- Thursday, May 02, 2024
Fujitsu’s Horizon system falsely implicated more than 700 subpostmasters in financial mismanagement
By: Kimberly Rodrigues
Fujitsu, the Japanese technology company entangled in the Post Office scandal due to its defective Horizon system, is confirmed to have secured contracts exceeding £3.4 billion with entities connected to the UK Treasury since 2019.
This revelation comes despite a 2019 High Court finding that identified “bugs, errors, and defects” in the Horizon software, which had led to the unjust prosecution of numerous subpostmasters for alleged financial discrepancies, The Guardian reported.
Of the total contracts, £1.4 billion were allocated to Treasury-related bodies post the damning court verdict, while contracts amounting to more than £2 billion were signed before the judgment.
Despite the controversy, some of these contracts are ongoing, though Fujitsu has since declared a pause in bidding for UK public contracts until the Post Office scandal inquiry concludes.
The Commons’ treasury committee, in its efforts to scrutinise the government’s dealings with Fujitsu, has discovered significant contracts with major institutions like HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Bank of England (BoE). Specifically, HMRC engaged Fujitsu for contracts worth over £2.8 billion, with around £1.4 billion still active.
The FCA’s contracts with Fujitsu totaled £630 million during the scrutinised period, with current contracts slightly over £9 million. Meanwhile, the BoE had a singular contract with Fujitsu, valued at over £417,000, which concluded in August 2020.
The controversy centres around Fujitsu’s Horizon system, which falsely implicated more than 700 subpostmasters in financial mismanagement, leading to one of the gravest judicial errors in recent times.
Harriett Baldwin, the treasury committee’s chair, highlighted the committee’s findings as crucial for enhancing transparency and oversight of Fujitsu’s role in public sector procurement. Baldwin also welcomed Fujitsu’s commitment to contribute to the compensation of the affected postmasters.
The fallout from the scandal, further propelled into the public eye by the ITV series “Mr Bates vs The Post Office,” which caused national outrage has prompted the government to pledge legal remedies for the wrongfully accused, aiming to restore their reputations by overturning the unjust convictions linked to the Horizon system’s failures.
