Post Office inquiry latest: 'Disturbing' report reveals 19 recommendations; chair says 'many thousands' have suffered
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry has published the first part of its final report today, which focuses on the human impact of the scandal and compensation for victims. The inquiry's chair Sir Wyn Williams is speaking now about his findings.

What do we know about the next part of the report?
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry published the first part of its final report today, but what do we know about the second volume?
That will be published either later this year or in the beginning of next year, our correspondent Alice Porter explained earlier.
"That's going to focus more on who knew what and when in regards to the Post Office and Fujitsu," she added.
Today's report was centred around compensation and the human impact of the scandal.
'No one should underestimate the toll it takes being accused of stealing'
Jo Hamilton, who was falsely prosecuted for a shortfall of £36,000 at her Post Office branch in Hampshire, has said the length of time it is taking to deliver justice is "wicked".
"No one should underestimate the toll it takes on you being accused of stealing," she said.
"I was really lucky that my community got behind me, but many people weren't so lucky."
'It's all wrong': Ex-MP featured in ITV drama about scandal criticises Fujitsu and praises inquiry chair
Lord Arbuthnot, a member of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board, has just told our presenter Matt Barbet the inquiry's report is "hard-hitting and sensible".
He was MP for North East Hampshire between 1997 and 2015. It was during this time that he became aware of the scandal, while helping a constituent. Actor Alex Jennings played him in the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office.
The fight for justice is "profoundly frustrating", Lord Arbuthnot said just now, adding that "we are to blame - it was a state organisation that did this to these people".
"It was impossible to get the Post Office to take it seriously, then it was impossible to get ministers to take it seriously, then it was impossible to get the media to take it seriously," he said.
"So, yes, banging heads against lots of brick walls, profoundly frustrating, but we're making progress. It's just taking far too long."
Lord Arbuthnot said Sir Wyn Williams - who he praised as "magnificent" - was right to describe the human impact as being "profoundly disturbing", but defended the last two Post Office ministers.
"Kevin Hollinrake and Gareth Thomas have really been trying in full, good faith to speed this up as much as they can," he said.
"It's horrendously complicated and really, really difficult with many implications for other compensation schemes."
With Fujitsu not being in attendance at The Oval today for the inquiry report's release, Lord Arbuthnot also said the company hasn't "paid a single penny" in compensation to victims.
"There's been more than £1bn paid out to the subpostmasters, not one penny of which has come from Fujitsu and yet they're still getting government contracts.
"It's all wrong."
'They really did drag me through the mud'
A former sub-postmaster has described how his "heart fell to the floor" when he was accused by the Post Office of owing £57,500 in October 2017.
"As far as I was aware, everything was alright at the time," Chirag Sidhpura said.
He said the money was repaid back to the Post Office to cover the accounts "within 48 hours" but the Post Office "still pursued criminal prosecution" and he was interviewed by Post Office investigators.
"They really did drag me through the mud," he added, speaking to Sky News after today's inquiry report was released.
Looking at the emotional toll this had taken on people, some of whom have taken their own lives as a result of the scandal, Sidhpura said he "understands" this struggle.
"I have personally been through it myself. Self-harm, suicidal thoughts - it's just like a never ending rollercoaster ride going through such an organisation that is so powerful," he said.
"In essence it's the government, you are trying to fight the government."
He said there were many days he "did not want to get out of bed" but he carried on for his family.
"I do it for the sake of my family - my wife and kids. I have to get up to address my family," he added.
Post Office chair admits it still uses Horizon - but says there's a plan to 'move away from Fujitsu'
The Post Office will move away from Fujitsu in the next two to three years, the chairman of the Post Office has told Sky's Matt Barbet.
Asked about the Post Office's relationship with Fujitsu, the company that developed the Horizon software, Nigel Railton acknowledges the Post Office still uses the system.
"If we turned Horizon off we would turn off the Post Office - that isn't an option," he says.
But he adds that since he joined the Post Office he has been developing a plan to move away from Fujitsu.
"I'm very confident we will be moving away from Fujitsu in the next two to three years," he says.
Railton says the recommendations from Sir Wyn Williams are "sensible".
"We are going to go away, look at the recommendations properly and implement them," he says.
Given what so many of the claimants have been through, Railton is asked if it would not simply be easier to streamline the redress schemes and give them what they are asking for.
"I think that is one thing the government need to consider," he adds.
"I was talking to one of the victims today and they told me the process takes years. It seems to be, some of it, unnecessary.
"Most of the complex schemes are administered by the government. The schemes we have are probably too complicated."
But he praises today's report's practical recommendations to stick with existing schemes. As we've been reporting, the report concluded it would take too long to set up new ones.
Railton says he now needs to sit down with the government and look at how to speed things up.
"We need to streamline things, using Sir Wyn as a catalyst, to make changes," he adds, saying "speed is of the essence".
Railton, who joined the Post Office last year, says it's always been his view that it should not have a role in compensation schemes.
"But again to be pragmatic, we need to work with what we have, to use Sir Wyn's recommendations as a catalyst to speed this up," he says.
Wrongly jailed subpostmistress praises 'thoughtful report' - vowing 'we won't give up'
A former subpostmistress who was wrongfully jailed while pregnant has described today's report as "thoughtful".
When asked to describe her experience of trying to get compensation, Seema Misra told Matt Barbet that it feels like a recurring nightmare.
"You have to prove yourself again and again, even after getting your name cleared," she said.
"You have to prove yourself, which is terrible."
Misra says the scandal has taken "20 years of our lives".
"When we took over the fight, we knew it was going to take some time because we are fighting authorities, but we didn't expect it to take this long," she said.
Asked if she thinks she will ever get the justice she deserves, Misra said "it needs to be done".
"We won't give up until each and every single person gets the full compensation."
Why report recommends sticking with 'flawed' compensation schemes
During his statement earlier this afternoon, Sir Wyn Williams said the current government redress schemes that are in place for claimants were "flawed".
But he also stressed that they should remain in place, given what it would take to set up an independent body.
Looking at why he said that, Sky correspondent Alice Porter says it is because of the amount of time it would take if this was then taken out of the government's hands.
"It would take even longer to get the money into people's hands," she says.
"While some postmasters may be disappointed by that, we get an understanding as to why he has done that in the way he has."
News correspondent Adele Robinson sums up the three key things you need to know about the Post Office report...
Redress schemes 'flawed' - but they 'can be improved'
Sir Wyn Williams says there is one last point he wishes to stress about the redress schemes.
He explains that although it is correct to say that the schemes are administered and delivered by either the Post Office or the Department for Business and Trade, the persons who ultimately decide upon the award to claimants "are not employees of the Post Office or the department".
For both the HSS and the Group Litigation Scheme, the ultimate decision makers are independently appointed panels of appropriate experts.
When it comes to the details of the schemes, he says "many of the recommendations are directed at the Horizon Shortfall Scheme and the newly created appeals process with the scheme".
"I make it clear that I share the view of the business and trade committee that the Horizon Shortfall Scheme is a scheme which is in most need of remedial attention," he says.
"That, of course, is not surprising given that it has had to handle close to 10,000 claims and there may yet be many more to come."
Calls for new compensation body - but it will take time
Sir Wyn says he has been "persuaded" that the victims of wrongdoing and the public at large "will never be convinced by words from lawyers" that financial redress schemes which are administered and delivered by the alleged wrongdoer are "truly independent".
He says "with the growing appetite which undoubtedly appears to exist" for redress schemes to operate without reference to the courts, it is his view that it is necessary to create a body which has the expertise and capabilities to administer and deliver redress schemes "which are seen to be wholly independent of the public body alleged to be responsible for the wrongdoing".
"However, and this may disappoint some, let me stress now that I do not believe that such a body could be created sufficiently quickly to make it viable for that body to take over the administration and delivery of financial redress in the existing schemes," he adds.
He says the "existing schemes are flawed" but they can be "improved significantly" if his recommendations are implemented.
'Great deal of work to be done' to satisfactorily resolve cases, inquiry chair says
Sir Wyn Williams now turns to settlements, and says whether some were full and fair "could only be a matter of conjecture".
He says many claims between £20,000 and £60,000 were likely assessed at sums which were not "full and fair".
Many of the larger claims, he adds, have proved very difficult to settle.
He explains that there have been "egregious delays" for which the Post Office and Department for Business have frequently apologised for.
"I have been made aware that a number of claimants have expressed their unhappiness with the level of offers made to them," he says.
"You should know that people continue to correspond with me right up until very recently about these matters.
"The likelihood is that most, if not all, of the claims which are unresolved are to be assessed. That means, in my view, that there is a great deal of work to be done if these cases are to be resolved satisfactorily within any kind of reasonable timescale."
The inquiry chair adds that there are likely to be 150 claimants in the process of assessment, which he describes as a "large number".
-SKY NEWS