Post Office Horizon scandal: Humza Yousaf says victims will be cleared and promises to work closely with UK Government in letter to Rishi Sunak

The decision to introduce legislation to exonerate victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal has prompted a letter from First Minister Humza Yousaf

Humza Yousaf has said sub-postmasters who received criminal convictions as a result of the Post Office Horizon scandal will be cleared.

The First Minister made the declaration as he called for a joint approach between the UK and Scottish governments to achieve justice for victims of the Horizon IT scandal, as it was confirmed hundreds of Post Office branch managers who were wrongly convicted could have their names cleared by the end of the year.

Blanket legislation to exonerate sub-postmasters convicted in England and Wales will be introduced within weeks. And Mr Yousaf said he would work closely with the UK Government to ensure victims are exonerated and that he welcomed a decision to overturn criminal convictions of all of those affected. He confirmed the same would be done in Scotland.

Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake speaking during an urgent question on the Post Office Horizon scandal in the House of Commons. Picture: UK Parliament/Maria Unger/PA Wire

About 100 Post Office sub-postmasters in Scotland were convicted after they were wrongly accused of embezzling money.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said they were victims of “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history”.

Downing Street has pledged to work with Scotland and Northern Ireland to ensure sub-postmasters in those nations can also be cleared.

Mr Sunak’s declaration in the House of Commons prompted Mr Yousaf to write a letter on Tuesday evening to the Prime Minister, urging for steps to be taken to ensure Scotland was part of a UK-wide approach to Post Office convictions.

“The Post Office Horizon scandal requires urgent action to ensure those affected by unjust convictions can finally receive justice,” the First Minister wrote.

“In the course of his statement, the [Post Office] minister [Kevin Hollinrake] noted that the power to legislate to reverse convictions imposed by the Scottish courts is devolved to the Scottish Parliament, but that he is keen to work with the devolved governments to ensure that sub-postmasters in Scotland and Northern Ireland are not disadvantaged.

“Scottish ministers are keen to work with the UK Government to deal with the impact on sub-postmasters convicted in Scotland, ensuring that a UK-wide approach is taken to exonerate those wrongfully convicted in Scottish courts.”

Mr Yousaf added: “I trust that we can work together to ensure that those affected are now able to have their convictions overturned and obtain compensation.”

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were convicted of swindling money on the basis of evidence from the flawed Horizon accounting system, with MPs told the Post Office showed “not only incompetence, but malevolence” in the way it acted against them.

The scale of the scandal has prompted the Government to adopt the unconventional approach of new legislation, rather than requiring individuals to challenge their convictions.

Ministers acknowledged the plan could result in some sub-postmasters who did commit crimes being wrongly cleared, but insisted the process was the most effective way of dealing with the vast majority who were victims of a miscarriage of justice. Downing Street said the “ambition” was for the plan to be implemented by the end of the year.

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mr Sunak said: “People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation.”

Those whose convictions are quashed are eligible for a £600,000 compensation payment, or potentially more if they go through a process of having their claim individually assessed. Mr Sunak also announced a £75,000 offer for sub-postmasters involved in a group legal action against the Post Office, with ministers setting aside up to £1 billion for compensation.

However, the new law being introduced by the UK Government will not apply in Scotland.

Scotland's justice secretary Angela Constance told the BBC ahead of Mr Sunak’s announcement: "We recognise that the UK Horizon Post Office scandal is probably one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in our time across the UK. We want to play our part in standing up for those who have been impacted by this travesty in Scotland."

She has separately written to UK justice secretary Alex Chalk seeking an urgent meeting to ensure any Scottish legislation would not have the unintended consequence of excluding sub-postmasters from the UK compensation scheme.

Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake told MPs just 95 out of more than 900 convictions have been overturned. The usual method for overturning a conviction would see the Criminal Cases Review Commission sending it to the Court of Appeal for a hearing.

But the unprecedented scale of the Horizon scandal means the Government is introducing the legislation route rather than relying on a potentially lengthy court process.

Justice secretary Alex Chalk has been discussing the situation with senior judges because of the constitutional concern about Parliament being seen to interfere with the legal system.

The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after ITV broadcast the drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which highlighted the scandal earlier this month.

Alan Bates, the campaigning former sub-postmaster the series centred on, welcomed the “good news”, but said the fight was not over for many of those still awaiting compensation.

“It is a leap forward, but it ain’t over yet,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One programme. “The devil is in the detail and we’re yet to see that. We’re still going to have to keep pushing the whole issue forward until everyone is sorted.”

Mr Hollinrake acknowledged the Government’s novel approach was not “foolproof”.

Scottish prosecutors were told by the Post Office the faulty Horizon system would not impact on its cases, the Crown Office had earlier said.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said it had been made aware of issues with the Fujitsu-made system in 2013.

But a spokesperson for the prosecutors said the Post Office claimed the system would have no impact on legal cases.

Asked if the Crown Office chose not to look again at the convictions in Scotland relating to Horizon because of assurances from the Post Office and if it felt it had been misled, the service said on Wednesday that it could not provide a response.

The ongoing public inquiry into the scandal and appeals against convictions may hamper what the COPFS can make public.

The spokesperson said: “Retained records demonstrate that COPFS were first made aware of potential problems with the Horizon computer system in May 2013. However, we were told by the Post Office at that time that these potential problems did not impact on any of our cases.”

The COPFS also said it estimates up to 100 people were convicted in Scotland as a result of Horizon.

Downing Street insisted Fujitsu would be held to account if it is found guilty of wrongdoing in the Horizon scandal.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We strongly believe that individuals, that businesses, will be held to account for one of the biggest miscarriages of justice this country has ever seen.

“We will not resile from that. But it is right that we allow an independent inquiry to get the facts, to set them out, and then we can act.”