Victims of the Post Office Horizon IT crisis and infected blood scandal 'are waiting too long for compensation', spending watchdog warns

The victims of ordeals such as the infected blood scandal are having to wait too long for compensation, the UK's spending watchdog has said. 

Those affected by the Post Office Horizon false accounting crisis are also among those due money from the Government in recognition of their years of suffering.

But a National Audit Office (NAO) report found there is no centrally coordinated approach when the Government sets up new compensation schemes, resulting in a relatively ‘slow, ad-hoc approach’ to dealing with claims.

It recommended that, by the end of the year, the Cabinet Office establishes a centre of expertise within the Government to provide guidance or a framework for public bodies seeking to set up such schemes.

Christopher Head – formerly the UK's youngest postmaster – tonight told MailOnline that it was an 'insult' to still not be compensated for what he went through as a postmaster.

'No one unless you have lived and survived a state scandal can ever understand what it feels like to have to fight day and night to receive the redress you are owed.' he added. 

'Every scandal we see in this country has an enormous impact on those affected, and the Infected Blood is one of so many sadly coming to light due to the recent publication of the report from the Public Inquiry. 

'What it shows us is the cover - up is usually the part that causes the most damage as it perpetulates the suffering for many years, and in the instance of the Infected Blood decades. It is a similar theme to that of the Post Office Scandal. 

'Victims, who we should actually call survivors have to drag the truth out of the very institutions that inflicted the suffering upon them, unfortunately many do not live to see justice. 

'The delays in redress/compensation are unforgivable, so many promises made over and over again by governments of all colours. What we need to see now is action, the time for talking and more promises is over. 

'It seems an endemic problem that the Treasury and officials use every tactic available to them to kick the can further down the road by using terms like, ‘reviews’ and ‘working at pace’, whilst continuing to reiterate the mantra that the government understands the suffering people have been through.'

Mr Head was just 18 in 2006 when he took over the newsagents and sub-post office at West Boldon, helped by a loan from his father.

He worked hard over years building up business and opening long hours to cater for locals who ran their own online businesses and relied on the Post Office.

Although like many postmasters, he found frequent unexplained shortfalls occurring under the flawed Horizon computer system which the Post Office bought from IT giant Fujitsu, at first the amounts were small enough for him to cover from his own pocket.

But in 2014 the system developed serious problems, needing to be constantly rebooted, sometimes up to 12 times a day, and he was told it needed to be replaced because it had 'corrupt data'.

When the new computer system was installed, Mr Head was stunned to discover that Horizon was now showing a £40,000 shortfall, which quickly doubled to £80,000.