Government investigation into the manner of prosecutions of Post Office workers by a government department
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced plans for an independent review into its handling of prosecutions against Post Office staff, particularly those related to the Horizon IT scandal. The review, which is yet to be commissioned as of August 2025, will focus on the DWP’s conduct over a 20-year period from September 1996 to December 2018.
The decision to launch the review follows concerns that some prosecutions might be compromised or "tainted" due to the joint investigations between the Post Office and the DWP during the scandal. About 100 prosecutions were led by the DWP between 2001 and 2006, mostly related to alleged welfare fraud involving Post Office staff.
The DWP characterizes these prosecutions as "complex investigations" supported by various forms of evidence such as filmed surveillance and witness statements. No documentation has been found to show that Horizon IT system data was essential to DWP prosecutions so far.
However, the review will consider the application of the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024 over two decades. Unfortunately, relevant information regarding guilty pleas or trial outcomes has been destroyed per departmental records and data protection practices, making it impossible for the review to access such details.
The independent review will examine the methodology and processes used by the DWP, as well as the thoroughness and adequacy of efforts to obtain case documents. It will not, however, look at individual cases. This review comes more than a year after joint investigations between the Post Office and the DWP during the Horizon IT scandal were discovered.
The Horizon IT scandal led to over 900 subpostmasters being wrongfully prosecuted by the Post Office itself between 1999 and 2015, many based on faulty Horizon system data. This resulted in wrongful convictions, imprisonment, financial ruin, and severe personal consequences.
Keren Simpson, the daughter of Roger Allen who was convicted in 2004 of stealing pension payments by the DWP and sentenced to six months in prison, described the review as a "development" but a "fob off." Allen died in March last year, still trying to clear his name.
Lawyer Neil Hudgell, representing some of those prosecuted, described the DWP's statement as "strikingly defensive and closed-minded." He criticized the review as "wholly inadequate." The family of Roger Allen are frustrated that the review won't look at his or other cases.
The review will be an "independent assurance review" and will not examine individual cases. The DWP maintains that its prosecutions did not rely decisively on Horizon data, which is a critical point given the known faults in that IT system. The review’s findings are expected to clarify the extent and integrity of the DWP’s prosecutions but have not yet been published.
- Amidst ongoing debates in the realm of politics and policy-and-legislation, the Human Rights Act has raised concerns among some groups due to its potential impact on crime-and-justice matters, particularly in light of the Horizon IT scandal where over 900 individuals were wrongfully prosecuted.
- The general news coverage of the Horizon IT scandal has revealed that the politics surrounding this issue extend beyond the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Post Office, with calls for investigations into the role of the DWP's policies and investigations in the miscarriage of justice faced by many Post Office staff.
