10 January 2024 , 07:55
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The Horison IT system provided by Fujitsu was the real culprit behind the Post Office scandal.
But today we reveal that the firm still gets government contracts worth £100m a year.
MPs say it should not be handed any more Government contracts.
Fujitsu is still being allowed to bid for the lucrative work after its faulty software led to hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and mistresses being wrongly prosecuted.
Since 2012 – more than a decade after the scandal began – the public sector has awarded Fujitsu almost 200 contracts worth £6.8billion in total, analyst Tussell says.
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Fujitsu is still one of the Government’s “strategic suppliers”, which typically means it receives over £100million in contracts per year. Labour MP Kate Osborne, who has campaigned on the scandal, said: “It is astounding the Government is continuing to award them billions of pounds worth of contracts. The least they could do is not give them any new contracts. It’s a kick in the teeth for the former postmasters.”
The Government has said Fujitsu may be forced to contribute cash for compensation, but is refusing to stop the firm bidding for contracts until a public inquiry into the scandal has finished. The probe was established in 2020.
Journalist Tony Collins, the former editor at Computer Weekly which first exposed the scandal, said: “I smile wryly when I hear ministers saying they’re going to get redress from Fujitsu. It’s not going to happen... They can’t be forced to do anything. They are in a uniquely strong position.”
He added: “Telling civil servants they can’t use Fujitsu is like telling them they can’t have lunch. Fujitsu is intricately woven into the fabric of the government machine. The Government couldn’t operate without them.” Ministers are looking at overturning all the convictions.
Chris Head started a petition on the Post Office Horizon Scandal in 2020 (Alamy Stock Photo)Fujitsu said: “The 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... 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.”
The Fujitsu Files
Government flooded
Fujitsu 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, the Government’s flood warning system, and the national emergency alerts system launched last year.
In August, the Mirror revealed Fujitsu had been handed a £1m contract to provide computer services for HS2.
Suing for £700m
In 2002 Fujitsu was one of the lead contractors on the NHS’s Programme for IT (NPfIT) to digitise records.
But the scheme failed, at a cost of at least £10billion to the taxpayer according to the National Audit Office.
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In 2011 the contract was terminated, with the NHS claiming the systems didn’t work. The company then sued the Government for £700million.
A clause in its deal meant that disagreements went to the London Court of International Arbritation, a privately-run arbitrator. Accounts suggest the firm got all but £71m.
At the Tory conference
PM Rishi Sunak (PA)Fujitsu schmoozes MPs from all parties. Its accounts reveal that in 2015-16 it paid £21,000 to the Tories, £14,000 to Labour and £11,000 to the Lib Dems, amounts it says formed part of “the company’s presence at all three main political parties’ annual party conferences”. At the Conservative conference, the company has run the Blue Room, a private luxury lounge where executives mingle with ministers.
P.O still using discredited system
The Post Office continues to use the infamous Horizon computer system despite the breath-taking scandal. It is even still believed to be paying developers Fujitsu tens of millions for their IT support.
Last year the loss-making Post Office asked the Government for £252million of funding, which included money to cover the cost of updating the seriously flawed computer system.
Armed and dangerous
In 2015 Fujitsu won a five-year deal worth over £550million to modernise MoD telecoms called ModNet Evolve, one of two contracts that would “bring savings of £1bn which will be directly reinvested by the MoD in defence capability”.
Four years later the system was £210m over budget and two years behind schedule, while a report warned “cost and time overruns could well worsen”. The problems the contract was meant to resolve have still not been eliminated, with a Public Accounts Committee report last year assessing the system as “unachievable”.
Too many mistakes
In 1998 the Government signed a contract with ICL/Fujitsu for a new IT system to streamline more than 300 magistrates courts.
The 10-year contract was worth £146million but the firm was unable to deliver a system that operated properly. An independent review in February 2002 found Fujitsu had made “too many mistakes”, including a poor analysis of requirements and unrealistic cost estimates. It also noted frequent personnel changes.
But Fujitsu demanded even more money and threatened to withdraw from the project.
The firm ended up being given a new Government contract for £390m over eight years, for doing less than the original scheme and no longer even delivering the core software.
Bosses make millions
Paul PattersonFujitsu paid more than £2million to three big bosses in the UK in 2022.
Accounts for the year to the end of March 2023 are overdue and should have been submitted to Companies House by the end of December.
The three unnamed directors at Fujitsu Services UK shared £2.3m, with the highest paid, who is not named, receiving £1.3m of that.
Paul Patterson is corporate executive officer and co-CEO of Fujitsu in Europe and is listed in the accounts of one of the UK arm’s directors.
Taking the government to court
In 2019 Fujitsu took the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the High Court because the FCO awarded a £350million IT outsourcing contract to its rival, Vodafone.
The four-year ECHO 1 contract was to supply voice and data services to 550 embassies and other British government posts in 170 countries.
Fujitsu also wanted “damages reflecting the loss of profit”, “wasted bid costs”, interest on damages and costs the court awarded, and a court order to oust Vodafone. Fujitsu won. The FCO cancelled Vodafone’s deal and gave one to Fujitsu in 2021.