g. Restorative Justice

g. Restorative Justice

¶The idea of restorative justice has been in the contemplation of postmasters and others adversely affected by Horizon since the opening of the Inquiry, when Mr Stein KC requested that each postmaster should have the opportunity to meet with senior representatives of the Post Office.²⁹⁴²⁹⁴ Transcript, 13/10/2022, Sam Stein KC [INQ00001046] at [63/11] to [64/3]. As of 4 September 2024, there had been 64 meetings between postmasters and the Post Office.²⁹⁵²⁹⁵ Simon Recaldin 6th [WITN09890600] at [15/38] "at the time of writing 64 (of which 12 in HSS, 44 in the GLO Scheme and eight in the OC Process) restorative Justice meetings have taken place...". The meetings had been attended by Mr Recaldin and members of the Senior Executive Group. I was not surprised to be told that the meetings described as both difficult and enlightening.²⁹⁶²⁹⁶ Transcript, 02/10/2024, Chris Brocklesby [INQ00001190] at [90/4] to [91/19]. Mr Recaldin, in evidence, described some of the small steps that POL have taken to address concerns that were not related to financial redress, for example offering references, presumably in an employment context, and placing articles in the local press explaining the exoneration of a postmaster.²⁹⁷²⁹⁷ Transcript, 05/11/2024, Simon Recaldin [INQ00001201] at [48/1] to [48/19].

¶4.321. In submissions, Mr Stein KC advocated for a funded restorative justice programme which he envisaged would include:

¶a) ongoing psychiatric and counselling support for postmasters and their families;

¶b) bursaries to assist with the retraining of postmasters and for the education of their children whose education was disrupted by this scandal;

¶c) a tangible memorial scheme to mark what he described as the largest miscarriage

of justice in British legal history; such a scheme should sympathetically record the experiences of postmasters and how profoundly they and their communities were failed by the Post Office and others;

¶d) restitution and restoration of reputation: in many cases postmasters'

reputations were traduced in their local communities and regionally; postmasters' reputations must also be restored within their own local communities through engagement with those communities and the local press;

¶e) an entrepreneurial fund; and, f) a fund for affected family members.²⁹⁸²⁹⁸ I note that measures (a)-(e) were included in Submissions 02/12/2024, Howe & Co [SUBS0000014] at [34/101] to which the Post Office took the position that such a programme was outside my terms of reference. See Transcript, 08/12/2022, Kate Gallafent KC [INQ00001055] at [40/15] to [40/24].

¶4.322. Mr Stein KC further submitted that I should not close the Inquiry until it has received and considered the proposals of the Post Office and Fujitsu on restorative justice and Core Participants have had an opportunity to respond to those proposals. Mr Recaldin made a commitment to provide such a report to the Inquiry, although it is yet to be received.²⁹⁹²⁹⁹ Transcript, 05/11/2024, Simon Recaldin [INQ00001201] at [51/6] to [52/3]. Mr William Paul Patterson, a director of Fujitsu Services Limited, who made a total of five witness statements and gave oral evidence to the Inquiry on two occasions declined to make a similar commitment. Fujitsu have maintained the position that they will deal with issues pertaining to monetary contribution to financial redress after the publication of my Report.³⁰⁰³⁰⁰ Submissions, 09/12/2024, Fujitsu [SUBS0000067] at [42/76] "Fujitsu will engage with Government on contribution to the Government's compensation costs. The timing of this engagement will commence once this Inquiry has published its findings.". This position had been explained to Ms Badenoch MP (then the relevant Secretary of State) who described having early discussions with Fujitsu about the issue of restorative justice.³⁰¹³⁰¹ Transcript, 11/11/2024, Kemi Badenoch MP [INQ00001205] at [159/3] to [162/3]. With a degree of reluctance, in my view, the company has agreed to re-open discussions with representatives of the Department about its engagement in restorative justice in advance of the publication of my Report.³⁰²³⁰² Transcript, 11/11/2024, William Paul Patterson [INQ00001205] at [227/6] to [232/13]. I understand that a meeting has now taken place between representatives of the Department, Mr. Patterson and Mr Takahito Tokita, the chief executive officer of Fujitsu Limited, following which a joint statement was issued as follows:

¶"Ahead of the completion of Sir Wyn Williams' Horizon IT Inquiry, the Secretary of State and Mr Patterson agreed to progress discussions regarding Fujitsu's contribution, acknowledging many parties are involved."³⁰³³⁰³ [RLIT0000633].

¶4.323. To date I have received no indication from Fujitsu or the Department as to how and when the discussions will be progressed, although to be fair to them both, I have not explicitly sought that information.

¶4.324. In submissions from Mr Tim Moloney KC, he invited me to recommend that work towards restorative justice programmes should be founded on moral responsibility and that such work should not be hindered by other legal proceedings. He also invited me to seek a commitment from the Government and Fujitsu to the effect that they would publish the final monetary contribution made by Fujitsu to the Department/Government, and/or the Post Office and any other relevant commitments made by Fujitsu.