Debate contribution: Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 20 May 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4490822
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The compensation scheme will operate on a UK-wide basis. The Department of Justice will have no role in the compensation scheme or in making it available to people. Our role is to ensure that the criminal records are suitably updated. We have already worked at pace with colleagues. Where we know that people have had a conviction that falls within the remit of the legislation, we will take steps to notify that person or a relative, if the person is deceased. As soon as we get Royal Assent, we will write to the individuals who fall into that category, within the scope of the Bill, stating that their convictions have been quashed and that their records will be amended accordingly. Some individuals who are in scope are not yet known to us, so we have not been able to identify where they are or how to reach them. We are working closely with the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), the courts and the national representative group for sub-postmasters to identify individuals to whom the legislation may be applicable but who are not known to the Department of Justice.
187 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.48 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.97 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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