Campaigner Condemns New Post Office Victim Compensation Plan
Prominent Post Office scandal campaigner Sir Alan Bates has launched a scathing critique of the government's newly announced compensation scheme for victims of the historic Capture software, branding it as "half-baked" in an exclusive interview with Sky News. The veteran campaigner, who recently settled his own claim related to the later Horizon scandal, accused officials of failing to learn from the well-documented shortcomings of previous compensation programmes for affected sub-postmasters.
The Capture Software Scandal
Capture was a faulty accounting system deployed in approximately 2,500 Post Office branches between 1992 and 1999, predating the infamous Horizon IT system that would later trigger a major public inquiry. Due to software errors, many sub-postmasters were forced to cover apparent accounting shortfalls from their personal finances, with dozens convicted of theft and false accounting based on unreliable data.
While Sir Alan welcomed the principle of the Capture Redress Scheme's launch last week, he expressed profound concerns about its implementation. "It does seem to have gone off half-baked with almost none of the lessons that should have been learnt from the failures of the other Postmaster Schemes having been applied when compiling it," he stated.
Personal Stake and Flawed Process
In a significant revelation, Sir Alan confirmed he may have been a victim of the Capture system himself. "I have documentation which shows that a PC running Capture was part of the inventory when we purchased our sub-post office and I know it was used until it was replaced by the infamous Horizon system toward the end of 2000," he disclosed.
Despite this personal connection, Sir Alan warned that the current scheme's structure may prevent him and others from successfully claiming. He described a critical flaw where claimants must submit a fully itemised claim before the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) determines their eligibility—a process he labelled as "mad."
"We could spend a year compiling a claim only for the DBT to say we weren't eligible in the first place," he explained, proposing instead a two-stage process that would first confirm eligibility before victims invest time and resources in building their detailed case with legal support.
Historical Evidence of Early Knowledge
Documents obtained by Sky News reveal that the Post Office was aware of fundamental flaws in the Capture software before its 1992 rollout. Meeting notes from the "Capture steering group" in February 1992—months before implementation—described files as being "corrupted" if power was interrupted, requiring manual data re-entry.
A subsequent "Capture Troubleshooting Guide" from April 1993 reiterated these problems, explicitly noting that power cuts could corrupt data and cause incorrect transaction values. Campaigner Rupert Lloyd-Thomas responded forcefully: "The Post Office knew ... in 1992, long before the launch, that Capture could be zapped by a power cut. They did nothing about it."
Steve Marston, convicted of theft in 1998 after using Capture at his branch, said this evidence "didn't come as any surprise," adding that authorities "have known since the very beginning it should never have been released."
Government and Post Office Response
A government spokesperson told Sky News: "After over two decades of fighting for justice, victims will finally receive redress for being impacted by the Capture software and we pay tribute to all of those who have worked to expose this scandal."
The statement confirmed that all eligible applicants will receive an interim payment of £10,000, with the independent panel able to award above £300,000 in exceptional circumstances. Regarding Sir Alan's concerns, the spokesperson added: "We have been in contact with Sir Alan's legal representative and stand ready to provide further information to help all claimants."
A Post Office spokesperson expressed sorrow "for past failings that have caused suffering to postmasters" and noted their full cooperation with an independent Kroll investigation published in September 2024. They acknowledged having "very limited records relating to this system" and encouraged anyone with Capture-related material to come forward.
The revelation that Sir Alan Bates—the figurehead of the Post Office justice campaign—may himself be a Capture victim underscores the scandal's extensive reach and raises urgent questions about how many others remain unaware of their eligibility for compensation under the current scheme.
