More than £1bn will be spent on compensating victims of the Post Office’s faulty Horizon IT software, according to a senior civil servant.

Only the taxpayer is currently lined up to foot the bill, Carl Creswell, director of business resilience at the Department of Business and Trade, told MPs on the Business and Trade Committee.

While Fujitsu “seem open” to contributing to the cost, the government is not currently negotiating with the Japanese software-maker on a figure, he said.

To begin sum negotiations now may be “wrong”, said Mr Cresswell, the official tasked with overseeing one of the Post Office compensation schemes, called the Group Litigation Order (GLO).

“If we were to agree a sum of money now and then the Horizon IT Inquiry were to find something material that could affect that negotiation, I think it would be wrong of us, on behalf of the taxpayer, to reach a pre-emptive agreement,” he told MPs.

The combined cost of compensating sub-postmasters is said to be “slightly over £1bn”, he added.

Well over 95% of victims will submit a claim, Mr Cresswell said, and will do so by August or early July.

The government last week said it was pressing ahead with the legislation to automatically quash convictions before the summer recess begins in late July.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

The faulty software, called Horizon and made by Fujitsu, led to accounting errors which made it appear that sub-postmasters were stealing money. Hundreds were convicted and many more had heir lives and reputations ruined.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Related posts:

‘Let’s keep going’: New ad campaign urges people to continue staying at home R number in England falls slightly to 1.1 to 1.3 despite rise in case numbers Man who robbed bookies with walking stick caught after giving name to ticket inspector Ex-soldier stabbed married couple to death with ceremonial dagger in parking space row, court told Teenager arrested on suspicion of murdering fellow schoolboy New CCTV footage shows last known images of missing student nurse Met Police preparing ‘truly immense operation’ for Queen’s funeral Boy, 11, who died after bus collision is named by police ‘My best friend, side kick, partner in crime’: Sister of Liverpool pub shooting victim pays emotional tribute Dog walker died from ‘multiple penetrating bites to neck’ Police release images of woman sought in connection with sexual assault investigation Temperatures to rise this weekend for what could be final time this year