09 January 2024 , 16:00
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The company behind the dodgy IT system that caused the Post Office scandal must be banned from getting any more Government contracts, MPs are demanding.
Fujitsu is still being allowed to bid for lucrative work even after its faulty Horizon software led to innocent postmasters being sent to jail.
The IT system built by the Japanese firm ruined the lives of hundreds of Post Office workers when it mistakenly made it look like money was missing from their branches. Postmasters were wrongly blamed for the shortfalls and made to cover the losses, with hundreds convicted and some put in prison.
Labour MP Kate Osborne, who has campaigned on the issue, said it “just isn’t acceptable” that ministers are still rewarding Fujitsu. She said: “It is clear that Fujitsu were at fault and it is astounding that the Government is continuing to award them billions of pounds worth of contracts.
"Fujitsu’s role in the Post Office scandal is well known. The very least that they could do is not give them any new contracts. I think it’s a kick in the teeth for the former postmasters that they can see this company making millions of pounds.
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“For many of them it destroyed their lives, it made them bankrupt, they lost their businesses and homes. And tragically some of them even took their own lives. It is a disgrace.”
Ms Osborne called for the Government to pause Fujitsu’s contracts in Parliament in October 2022, but ministers declined. The Jarrow MP’s constituent Christopher Head, who had been Britain’s youngest postmaster, was driven out of business after he was wrongly blamed for a £88,000 shortfall.
Since 2012, the public sector has awarded Fujitsu almost 200 contracts worth a combined total of £6.8 billion, according to analysts Tussell. It provides IT services to Government departments including the Home Office, the Foreign Office, Defra and the Ministry of Defence. Contracts include the Police National Computer, which stores criminal records, the Government's flood warning system, and the national emergency alerts system launched last year.
In August, the Mirror revealed that Fujitsu had been handed a £1million contract to provide computer services for HS2.
The Government has said Fujitsu may be forced to stump up cash to contribute towards the compensation for Post Office victims, but it is refusing to stop it bidding for contracts until a public inquiry into the scandal has concluded. The probe led by retired High Court judge Sir Wyn Williams was established in September 2020.
The Commons Business Committee has summoned Fujitsu to appear at a hearing in Parliament next week, which will also hear from Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake and Alan Bates, the former postmaster who led efforts to expose the scandal. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is holding meetings with senior judges as ministers look at overturning all the convictions of postmasters related to Horizon, with a final decision expected to be announced in days. A new law could be brought in to quash the convictions.
A Fujitsu spokesman said: "The current Post Office Horizon IT statutory inquiry is examining complex events stretching back over 20 years to understand who knew what, when, and what they did with that knowledge. The inquiry has reinforced the devastating impact on postmasters' lives and that of their families, and Fujitsu has apologised for its role in their suffering.
"Fujitsu is fully committed to supporting the inquiry in order to understand what happened and to learn from it. Out of respect for the inquiry process, it would be inappropriate for Fujitsu to comment further at this time."