Putting Postmasters at the Centre of the Horizon Response - One Year On

This anniversary belongs first and foremost to the postmasters, families and communities whose lives were changed by Horizon. For many, the harm did not end when convictions were quashed, redress schemes were announced or the public conversation shifted to the next stage of accountability and redress. It has continued in livelihoods, reputations, relationships, health, identity and trust.

Sir Wyn Williams’ first Inquiry report was significant because it helped bring that long-term harm more fully into view. It recognised that the Horizon scandal was never only about technology, accounting systems or redress. It was, and remains, about human harm: harm that is personal, relational and still being carried by those affected.

Recommendation 19 of that report called for restorative justice to be developed as part of the wider response to the scandal. That recommendation mattered because it reflected something that had become increasingly clear through the experiences of those harmed: financial redress is essential, but it cannot, on its own, repair the full impact of what happened or address the need to be heard, acknowledged and treated with dignity.

Since then, the Restorative Justice Council has been working to turn that recommendation into a careful, independent and harm-centred programme. This has not been about creating another institutional process for people to navigate. It has been about building something with postmasters, families and those affected by Horizon, rooted in choice, dignity, safety and the right to be heard on their own terms.

The work that has begun over the past year should therefore be acknowledged carefully, and in the right order: not as an organisational achievement in isolation, but as work being built with postmasters, families and those most affected, in response to people who have waited too long for the depth of their harm to be understood.

Redress matters. It is necessary, overdue and central to any meaningful response. But the harm caused by Horizon was not only financial, and justice cannot be measured by financial redress alone.

It also meant public shame, isolation, damaged relationships, lost trust, poor health and years of being met with silence. Those harms require a response that can make space for listening, acknowledgement and carefully supported restorative practice.

Building the response carefully

Over the past year, the RJC has moved from early listening and engagement to the design and delivery of an independent restorative justice programme shaped with postmasters and families. The work has included listening and wellbeing support, preparatory work with organisational representatives, and safe routes for restorative dialogue where, and only where, people choose to explore them.

The programme has been designed around a clear principle: those harmed must not be asked to fit themselves around a process. The process must be built around them. That means participation is voluntary, support is available without any expectation of dialogue, and people can engage at a pace and in a way that feels right for them.

This is an important step. It means Recommendation 19 is not being treated as a technical action point, but as an invitation to respond differently to harm: more relationally, more honestly and with greater respect for the autonomy of those affected.

For that response to be possible, the organisations connected to the harm also have responsibilities. Post Office Ltd, Fujitsu Services Ltd and the Department for Business and Trade have each engaged with the RJC’s recommendations and taken steps to support the conditions needed for an independent programme, while the programme itself remains centred on those harmed.

Their willingness to engage with preparation and the practical requirements set out by the RJC is significant. It helps create conditions in which responsibility can be faced in human terms, not only managed through formal systems.

There is more to do, but important foundations are beginning to take shape.

What support is available

The Horizon restorative justice programme is a separate, voluntary offer. It does not replace redress, legal accountability or institutional reform; its purpose is different.

It offers safe opportunities for people harmed by Horizon to be listened to, ask questions, seek acknowledgement, take part in facilitated dialogue where appropriate, or access support without any pressure to go further. For some, restorative dialogue may matter. For others, being heard properly and respectfully may be enough. Both choices are equally valid.

The offer includes individual and group restorative processes, indirect communication where direct meetings are not wanted or not appropriate, family-focused approaches, and preparatory work with organisational representatives. Each element is intended to protect choice, reduce the risk of further harm and ensure that engagement is meaningful rather than performative.

At its heart, the programme is about creating conditions in which truth, responsibility and dignity can be held together. It is about recognising that the harm caused by Horizon was not only transactional. It was personal, relational and, for many, life-changing.

That is why the RJC’s role as an independent restorative justice body matters. Our task is not to speak for those harmed or to determine what repair should look like. It is to create safe, ethical and carefully facilitated routes through which those harmed, and, where appropriate, representatives of organisations connected to the harm, can communicate what they need to say, ask, hear or acknowledge, whether directly, in person, or through supported facilitation.

Why listening matters

If there is one lesson from the past year, it is this: listening is not a precursor to justice. It is part of justice.

For years, too many people affected by Horizon felt unheard or dismissed. For some, being listened to properly, respectfully and without agenda may be where their engagement begins and ends. That, too, can be part of repair.

That is why the dedicated wellbeing and listening offer sits alongside, but remains distinct from, restorative justice. No one is expected or encouraged to take part in restorative dialogue. The choice remains entirely theirs.

That distinction protects something that has too often been missing: autonomy.

Accountability in human terms

Restorative justice can do something formal systems often cannot: create conditions where truth is spoken directly, responsibility is confronted in human terms, and people are treated not as cases, but as individuals.

That is why Sir Wyn Williams’ identification of restorative justice in Recommendation 19 matters: it recognises that those harmed may need more than process, redress or formal response alone.

And that is why it must be delivered with care, not urgency.

The work ahead

The past year has been about recognition, careful groundwork and creating the conditions in which repair may become possible. The year ahead must be about deepening that work.

That means ensuring postmasters and families continue to shape how the programme develops; supporting those who want restorative dialogue while equally respecting those who do not; and holding institutions to the commitments they have made, not only in policy terms, but in human terms.

The test will be whether the response continues to protect choice, support meaningful accountability and remain grounded in the lived experience of those most affected.

For those still living with the impact

If you are a postmaster, or a family member still living with the impact of Horizon, there is now a dedicated space designed to begin with you, not the system.

There is no expectation to take part, no pressure to revisit what you have been through, and no assumption about what you might want next.

But there is the possibility, if you choose it, of being heard properly, asking questions that matter to you, or finding out what support is available without obligation.

If, at any point, you want to understand more about the restorative justice or wellbeing support available, you can do so at your own pace. The choice is yours.

Visit www.horizon.restorativejustice.org.uk for more information.

Because after everything that has happened, the next step, whatever it is, should sit firmly where it belongs: with you. Repair cannot undo what happened, but it can help ensure that those harmed are no longer expected to carry it alone.