When will there be justice for the sub-Postmasters? Fujitsu, CCRC, DBT and MoJ among witnesses in BTC’s first evidence hearing of the New Year
On Tuesday 6 January 2026 the Business and Trade Committee will convene a high-level evidence session on the continued search for justice and accountability in the Post Office Horizon scandal, described as the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice.
Meeting details
Sub-postmasters who were wrongfully convicted; Fujitsu the company that supplied the Horizon accounting software package implicated in the thousands of wrongful prosecutions and around a thousand wrongful convictions for fraud; the Department of Business and Trade, and the Ministry of Justice will appear one year on from the Committee’s major report on delayed redress. The full line up of witnesses for this evidence hearing will be published here shortly.
In recognition of the terrible toll on livelihoods and lives and decades after the original wrongful prosecutions, the Government recently announced that police are investigating charges of corporate manslaughter against the Post Office. In January 2024 Fujitsu announced a self-imposed moratorium on bidding for new Government contracts, but between May 2024 and September it was awarded another £362 million in contracts “to ensure the continuation of public services”, and it is expected to continue to provide the Horizon system at the centre of the scandal until 2027.
In March of this year the Government opened negotiations with Fujitsu on what its contribution to financial redress should be, with ministers citing its “moral obligation” to pay. This will be the first time Fujitsu has been questioned in this Parliament on its role in the scandal.
Following the Committee’s report, which found that navigating slow, flawed redress schemes was “akin to a second trial” for victims, its key recommendation on ensuring all claimants in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme have access to free, upfront legal advice has been implemented. There have been notable improvements in the pace of administration of the various redress schemes this year, but thousands of claimants are still having their claims considered and awaiting offers.
After decades seeking justice and the continued delays, there are now fresh questions about how the MoJ has managed the process of overturning wrongful convictions and how this has further impacted victims' access to redress. The Committee expects to hear evidence from sub-postmasters who have experienced this mishandling of the review of their cases by the Ministry of Justice.
Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “The Post Office Horizon Scandal was the largest miscarriage of justice in British history and our Committee made a promise to wronged sub-postmasters: that we would be grip this issue until every single one had justice.
“For years the system failed, and innocent people paid with their livelihoods, their reputations, and their lives. Despite the big progress this year, justice is still not done. Those who supplied the system at the heart of this scandal still hold public contracts, victims are still forced through processes that feel like punishment all over again, and too many wrongful convictions are still not overturned.
“This hearing is about fixing what is still broken: convictions overturned properly and fairly, accountability for those responsible, and redress delivered at pace. Democracy only works when the state admits failure, enforces responsibility, and proves — in action, not words — that justice applies to the powerful as well as the powerless.”