Legislation to clear Scots Horizon victims due by summer

The Scottish government will look to bring forward legislation to clear victims of the Horizon post office scandal before the summer.

The Justice Secretary Angela Constance told a meeting of the cabinet that the UK government was "inexplicably" refusing to quash convictions for sub-postmasters in Scotland, despite extending new legislation to Northern Ireland.

A letter from UK Enterprise minister Kevin Hollinrake said that it was more appropriate for Holyrood to legislate, given the separate legal system.

The scandal revealed that people running post offices were accused of crimes like theft, false accounting or embezzlement on the basis of a faulty IT system called Horizon, which operated from 1996 until 2018.

The exact number of people affected in Scotland is unknown but is believed to be around 100.

A new UK bill has been introduced to give those wrongly convicted the option to settle for £600,000, without the need to bring a formal claim.

However, in Scotland the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has sole responsibility for prosecutions, in contrast to in England where the Post Office prosecuted cases privately.

The first minister Humza Yousaf called the decision "scandalous" and said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should "change course."

The Scottish Tories said the first minister was "posturing" regarding the issue, and claimed his comments were "constitutional grievance stoking."

The Scottish government previously argued that including Scotland in the bill would be the fastest way to secure parity.

Ms Constance said: “We fully support the extension of this Bill to cover Northern Ireland, but it is outrageous that the UK government has declined to also include Scotland.

“Sub-postmasters north of the border will be the only victims in the UK not covered by the legislation at Westminster."

She added that it was a "betrayal of Scotland’s Horizon victims for UK ministers to behave in this manner" and that the UK government decision was "petty political point-scoring".

Mr Hollinrake said the legislation had been expanded to include Northern Ireland because the recently restored administration there faced "significant and unique challenges".

However, he said Scotland was "historically separate legal jurisdiction" and it was "more appropriate" for separate Scottish legislation to be introduced.

A UK Government spokesperson said: "Justice is a devolved matter in Scotland so it is right that Scottish ministers remain accountable for decisions taken in Scotland.

"The Scottish government has already indicated that they are bringing forward legislation, and we will continue to support them in developing proposals to overturn all convictions relating to the Horizon scandal in Scotland.”

BBC Scotland News understands Scottish ministers want to be sure that their bill will be compatible with the UK wide compensation scheme, before it becomes law.