‘Scandal within a scandal’: DWP fails to begin Post Office convictions review

The DWP was involved in bringing prosecutions against roughly 100 Post Office staff from 2001 to 2006, owing to a dodgy computer system. Data from the faulty computer programme, Horizon, was used to wrongfully jail postmasters for theft and false accounting.

These convictions remain in place and have not been overturned. The Post Office scandal was described at the 2024 public inquiry as:

the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history.

The prosecutions review was announced in August 2025, with a job advert for a reviewer posted in March, and application deadlines listed for April. No reviewer has been appointed, and no review begun.

If few people applied for the role, it could likely be due to the political high profile of the prosecutions.

The department attributed the near 12-month wait to the need for the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, to consider the independent reviewer before appointing them.

The DWP said the final appointment decision would be made when the new administration begins. Two changes have been made to the department’s ministerial team since Andy Burnham took office.

Alan Bates calls for legal action against Labour government over Post Office scandal

DWP Post Office review stalls

Keren Simpson vows to posthumously clear her DWP-prosecuted father’s name. She told Sky News that the delay shows the DWP has “something to hide“. She stated:

The Department for Work and Pensions knows they’re guilty, and they don’t want to be implicated in anything to do with the Horizon system or the Post Office.

The delay is described as “a scandal within a scandal” by Neil Hudgell, a solicitor whose firm represents 19 of the DWP-convicted clients. Hudgel told Sky News:

At the heart of all this are a number of badly affected Post Office victims for whom the pain and suffering endures. And who fear they have been left behind and forgotten.

Separately, it appears that British police forces risk making the same technology-led mistakes all over again. In June, Derbyshire police were found to have used AI to fabricate criminal evidence for prosecution.

Post Office victims await justice

Up to 900 sub-postmasters prosecuted by the Post Office have already had their convictions overturned en masse by parliament. This was done by the 2024 legislation for justice. However, DWP convictions and prosecutions using data from Horizon’s predecessor, Capture, are yet to be quashed.

As the body administering welfare and pensions payments, the DWP is involved in benefits theft cases. Most cases relating to the Post Office involved cashing in stolen benefits books.

The palpable lack of action on these DWP convictions was heavily criticised last month by independent government advisers. The Horizon Compensation Advisory Board (HCAB), tasked with overseeing redress related to the software, has criticised the DWP publicly.

The process of overturning all remaining Post Office convictions is taking too long, the group of academics and peers told the press. It is asking for all outstanding convictions to be overturned by legislation. Failing that, it seeks an expedited system to properly investigate and void suspect cases.

Is the review enough?

Alongside criticism of the delay, the review’s content has been deemed insufficient by critics. These include HCAB and the families of victims of wrongful prosecution.

Its focus lies solely on an information review and assessing “steps taken” by the DWP when prosecuting Post Office staff in the Horizon period. Therefore, the review would never actually overturn convictions.

The DWP maintains that its investigations were complex and that it relied mainly on direct evidence mainly. These included surveillance and stolen benefit books from Post Offices, plus handwriting analyses and witness statements from claimants in the various prosecutions.

However, the prosecuted individuals’ solicitor, Neil Hudgell, said that the only satisfying outcome is a:

full review of all cases on their own merits.

‘Always at the back of my mind’

Some families of those wrongfully prosecuted are fighting to have their loved one’s name cleared. That’s certainly the case for Keren Simpson and her mum Julie Allen.

Julie’s husband, Roger Allen, ran a Post Office with her. Julie Allen looked after cards and stationery, helping him out with the tidying and sometimes counting money.

Then suddenly, in 2002, she was taken into police custody and questioned. As the two were involved in managing the Post Office, the prosecution thought “you were in it together“, Julie Allen says.

Speaking to media for the first time about her experience, Julie Allen said:

We were guilty before we ever got anywhere. They were just determined [he was guilty]; you’re the postmaster, it’s your responsibility.

Julie Allen claims that Roger was told to “own up” and charges against his wife would be dropped.

He took the offer. He pleaded guilty and, in 2004, was sentenced to six months in prison for theft. This was despite his doctor recommending against jail time after he had an aneurysm in 2000.

‘The truth will come out’

Roger Allen, featured in the picture above, died in March 2024. Now his widow just wants his name cleared. Julie Allen has told Sky News:

I want it to be ended. … Because it’s always there in the back of my mind.

Her daughter Keren Simpson believes that the fight is worth continuing:

I do believe that the truth will come out. It’s just extremely frustrating how long it’s taking and the amount of effort we have to push for [the government] to do the right thing.

Despite the Criminal Cases Review Commission deciding Roger Allen had grounds to appeal against his conviction, it was upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2021.

Spokespeople for the DWP have said:

We remain committed to an independent review of these prosecutions, and we’ll update on the appointment of a reviewer in due course.