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18 March 2026
Categories: Legal News , Compensation , Public
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Post Office redress system 'unacceptable'

Thousands of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses are still waiting for compensation owed due to ‘serious structural failings’ in the Post Office Horizon scandal redress system, MPs have warned

More than 11,300 claimants have received payments with £1.4bn distributed, the Business and Trade Committee reported this week, but others have struggled with unacceptable delays, inadequate offers and complicated administrative processes.

The Post Office-run Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) ‘routinely’ sees its offers overturned and significantly increased on appeal while the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) is better but creates unnecessary administration for applicants, the committee found.

Chair Liam Byrne called the redress system ‘simply unacceptable after one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history. Worse, Fujitsu has yet to contribute a penny to the nearly £2bn redress bill, even as it continues to benefit from public contracts’.

Categories: Legal News , Compensation , Public
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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