The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill is due to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 13 May 2024. The bill seeks to fulfil the commitment made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 10 January 2023 to quash the convictions of those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal. It would extend and apply to England and Wales, and Northern Ireland. Its provisions would come into force at royal assent. During committee stage the bill was extended to Northern Ireland. There have also been calls for it to be extended to Scotland. The bill has received cross-party support but is controversial as the quashing of convictions by Parliament is unprecedented. In addition, concerns about the scope of the bill have been raised. The bill would not include individuals whose convictions were previously upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill (446KB PDF)
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill is due to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 13 May 2024. The bill seeks to give effect to a government commitment made on 10 January 2024 to quash the convictions of those sentenced as a result of the Horizon scandal. The bill would extend and apply to England and Wales, and Northern Ireland. Its provisions would come into force at royal assent. During committee stage in the House of Commons the bill was extended to Northern Ireland. There have also been calls for it to be extended to Scotland.
The Post Office introduced the Horizon computer system into branches from 1999. The system, used for accounting and stock-taking, inaccurately recorded losses and money missing in branches. The Post Office was resistant to repeated assertions that the Horizon system was flawed and IT glitches were causing the issues. Between 2000 and 2014, the Post Office prosecuted over 730 individuals leading to bankruptcies, imprisonments and in some cases suicides. In 2019, following many years of repeated attempts to expose the problems, the High Court ruled that the original Horizon system had not been sufficiently robust and had suffered from a number of bugs and errors.
Several compensation schemes for the victims of the system have been established since the judgment, although none of these are accessible to those whose convictions have not been quashed. In April 2021, the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions of 39 postmasters whose cases had been referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The Horizon Compensation Advisory Board (HCAB) has argued that all of the affected sub‑postmasters’ convictions are unsafe and should be swiftly overturned. Over 900 convictions are associated with evidence from Horizon, including those prosecuted by the Post Office itself and other authorities. To date approximately 100 convictions have been overturned.
Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill (446KB PDF)
In January 2026, the government announced a new scheme to support urgent repairs and essential improvements to listed places of worship. Called the ‘Places of worship renewal fund for England’, it replaced the ‘Listed places of worship grant scheme’ which had run since 2001. This briefing provides an overview of both schemes, the government’s reasoning for the change and the reaction of stakeholders.
There have been big differences in expenditure across different forms of healthcare for a number of years. In 2024/25, spending on acute care was £74.7bn, compared to £14.5bn on primary care and £13.8bn on community services. Both the 2024 Labour Party manifesto and the subsequent 10 year health plan for England contained an emphasis on shifting towards more care being delivered in local communities rather than in acute settings, dubbed a ‘neighbourhood health service’.
Social media and other technologies have made it easier, quicker and cheaper for foreign powers to spread false information online aimed at undermining UK democracy. Such disinformation campaigns are one type of interference operation. In parallel, researchers have noted a link between declining public trust and societal polarisation, which can be exacerbated by online discourse. This briefing provides introductory reading to these issues, including recent reports and government announcements.
