By Ben Kerrigan-
A pivotal moment has arrived in the long, painful saga of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, marking a “significant” step toward the establishment of a national Post Office Restorative Justice programme. This crucial development confirms the inclusion of children and family members of the affected postmasters, a form of acknowledgement and redress they have long sought.
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The Restorative Justice Council (RJC), the body managing this complex project, revealed the expansion on Thursday. This decision signals an official recognition that the trauma inflicted by the faulty Fujitsu-made accounting software extends far beyond the postmasters themselves, deeply affecting their entire families for decades.
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Fujitsu, the multinational corporation responsible for developing and implementing the problematic Horizon system, will partially fund this programme. This commitment comes amid persistent public questions regarding the Japanese firm’s overall financial contribution to redress efforts. Data generated by the defective Horizon computer programme tragically led to the wrongful prosecution of more than 700 innocent postmasters for serious offenses like theft and false accounting.
Countless others incurred massive debts, lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their reputations as they desperately borrowed money to cover the incorrectly generated financial shortfalls in their branches. Sir Wyn Williams, the chair of the ongoing public inquiry into the scandal, had specifically recommended the Government, the Post Office, and Fujitsu engage in a formal restorative justice plan to provide “full and fair redress.” The formal launch of the Post Office Restorative Justice initiative is intended to meet this recommendation comprehensively.
The expansion to include children and relatives represents a foundational change in the approach to healing. Relatives have consistently sought both acknowledgment and support for the intense, often debilitating harm they suffered as collateral victims of the scandal. Some family members shared their traumatic experiences with Sky News, detailing how the prosecution of a parent exacerbated existing health issues, such as eating disorders, and how they carried that profound trauma for decades.
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They desperately needed assistance. Therefore, calls for a dedicated family fund emerged to redress the “chances that were taken from us growing up” due to their parents’ unjust convictions and public shaming.
The Restorative Justice Council emphasized the profound importance of this comprehensive approach. They stated that “true restoration requires truth, acknowledgement, accountability and meaningful action beyond financial compensation.” This philosophy underpins the entire Post Office Restorative Justice structure.
The plan includes the creation of a confidential safe space service where affected individuals can share their experiences and explore healing without the formal pressure of legal or compensatory processes. Freelance restorative listeners are actively being recruited by the service to facilitate these essential conversations.
Online listening sessions for children of those affected and people previously unable to attend formal proceedings are also planned. This intentional outreach ensures all voices contribute meaningfully to the design and implementation of the comprehensive Post Office Restorative Justice model. The objective clearly involves repairing the harm by bringing together victims and those organizational figures responsible for the catastrophic injustice.
The current initiatives are designed as crucial pilot schemes. Feedback rigorously gathered from these early engagement phases will directly shape the final design of a long-term, national restorative justice programme, which is scheduled for a full launch in April. An updated report detailing the progress on Post Office Restorative Justice for the victims will be publicly released in January.
RJC chief executive Jim Simon confirmed that engagement remains “good and continues to grow.” Approximately 145 individuals have participated so far, with plans to engage an additional 200 postmasters between November and March. The next crucial phase involves translating these powerful “voices into real, restorative action,” Mr. Simon concluded, ensuring that accountability, cultural change, and healing progress simultaneously.
The initiative also involves equipping the key organizational parties—the government (acting via the Department for Business and Trade), the Post Office, and Fujitsu—with the necessary “skills and knowledge to engage in restorative dialogue with integrity,” according to the RJC.
This specialized training is vital for ensuring genuine accountability. While the restorative listening and wellbeing service is being funded by Fujitsu, the broader question of the Japanese multinational’s contribution to overall redress costs remains pending.
Fujitsu has publicly affirmed a “moral obligation” to contribute, but the final extent will be determined by the ongoing findings of the public inquiry. Because the Post Office is government-owned, taxpayers ultimately fund the majority of victim payouts through central government budgets. The launch of the Post Office Restorative Justice pilot offers genuine hope, aiming to deliver non-financial resolution that compensation schemes cannot address.
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