Ministers are considering handing over ownership of the Post Office to deputy postmasters

Ministers are exploring plans to hand post office ownership over to thousands of deputy postmasters across the UK, sources have told the BBC.

The proposal is in its early stages and is one of many being considered.

The Department for Business and Trade has asked management consultancy BCG to explore the potential ownership model, as first reported by Sky News.

The business secretary expects to receive a report in the coming months, a government source said.

Assistant Postmasters are responsible for the day-to-day running of over 11,500 post offices across the UK.

In July, former business secretary Sir Vince Cable said the Post office inquiry that he had wanted to “address the imbalance” between the Post Office and the deputy postmasters by creating a “mutual structure”.

He said he had raised some of these issues with then Postmaster General Paula Vennells, but the change “unfortunately never came to fruition”.

Instead, the Post Office was separated from the Royal Mail group under Sir Vince’s watch and remains a government-owned company.

The relationship between the Post Office and deputy postmasters has received widespread attention following the Horizon scandal.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 deputy postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted after Horizon’s flawed IT accounting system made it appear money was missing from branch accounts.

It has been called the most widespread abortion in the UK.

Hundreds of affected deputy postmasters took legal action against the Post Office in 2019, led by Sir Alan Bates, with some is still waiting to be compensated.

An ITV drama about the case in January sparked renewed public interest in the scandal.

The Metropolitan Police said they were investigating the Post Office possible fraud committed at that time.