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The Independent
17-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Fujitsu ‘kicking can down the road' on compensation, says Post Office campaigner
Fujitsu are 'kicking the can down the road' on compensation for its role in the Post Office scandal, a leading campaigner has told Parliament. Conservative peer Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, who played a pivotal role in exposing the outrage, accused the Japanese tech giant of holding out with a view to reducing the amount it would ultimately have to pay. He argued the only way to change the under-fire company's attitude would be for the Government to stop awarding it contracts. Despite its involvement in the Post Office debacle, the firm has continued to secure multimillion-pound deals with Whitehall, bankrolled by the taxpayer. Fujitsu has already acknowledged it has a 'moral obligation' to contribute to compensation, pending the outcome of the public inquiry led by Sir Wyn Williams. The firm has come under renewed pressure after the publication of the first part of Sir Wyn's final report. It found around 1,000 people were wrongly prosecuted and convicted after Fujitsu's defective Horizon accounting system made it appear that money was missing at their Post Office branches. Some victims were sent to prison or financially ruined, others were shunned by their communities, and some took their own lives. The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after ITV broadcast the drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which highlighted the scandal. Sir Wyn said around 10,000 people are eligible to submit compensation claims following what has been dubbed as the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history. Speaking in Parliament, Lord Arbuthnot said: 'This matter has taken place over many years, under Labour ministers, Lib Dem ministers, Conservative ministers, 'We should all, frankly, hang our heads in shame.' He added: 'I went along to The Oval last week to listen to Sir Wyn give his excellent report, and he used a telling phrase about Fujitsu, namely that they were kicking the can down the road. 'That's exactly what they are doing. 'The longer they think they can stave off paying a single penny towards the victims of this matter, the less they think they will have to pay. 'Does the Government recognise that the only way we can change that behaviour is to stop giving them contracts?' Responding, business minister Baroness Jones of Whitchurch said: 'I must pay absolute tribute to him for all of his involvement in this running scandal over many years, and for helping to bring the scandal to light.' She said the Government was in 'active dialogue' with Fujitsu on the issue of compensation. The company has said it will not bid for contracts 'with new Government customers' until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes. However, this still leaves it open to tender for work with existing Whitehall clients or 'where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu's skills and capabilities'. Latest figures show a further 12 new deals had been struck with the company over the last year, in addition to extensions of existing contracts. The Government has said the majority are for services already provided by Fujitsu and were put in place to ensure continuity of services. Lady Jones told peers: 'The extent of Fujitsu's role on the scandal is not fully known, and therefore we feel it would be inappropriate for the Government to take further action until we have all parts of the inquiry before us.' A Fujitsu spokesperson said: 'We have apologised for, and deeply regret, our role in subpostmasters' suffering. We hope for a swift resolution that ensures a just outcome for the victims. 'We are considering the recommendations set out by Sir Wyn in volume one of the inquiry's report, and are engaged with Government regarding Fujitsu's contribution to compensation.'
The Independent
12-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Why is Fujitsu still winning government contracts in the wake of the Post Office scandal?
June 24 2025 was a red letter day for Fujitsu, the Japanese tech company. Winning two government contracts worth nearly £300m would be a cause for celebration for just about any company. The trouble is, just two weeks later, Fujitsu's name was being (justifiably) dragged through the mud for its role in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, which led to some truly terrible human suffering and one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history. Some victims of the Fujitsu system's bugs, which led to false shortfalls in accounts (among other things), were financially ruined. Some were wrongly convicted of fraud and imprisoned. The first part of Sir Wyn Williams' report into the affair also revealed that there was a 'real possibility' the pain inflicted by the affair was linked to 13 suicides. One former subpostmistress told this newspaper that she would have been the 14th, if she hadn't been pregnant while in prison for crimes she simply did not commit. There should doubtless be consequences for those found to be at fault. Yet the company that created the system – and which employed people who knew it had issues as far back as 1999 – was still awarded two lots of government-paid work just a couple of weeks before the first volume of the report into the affair emerged. It beggars belief. But, wait, I hear you say, didn't Fujitsu promise not to bid for new government contracts until after the report back in January 2024? Well yes, it did. But here's the thing. There were carve outs. The pledge did not apply to existing contracts, extensions of existing contracts or to new work where its involvement was specifically requested. Those carve outs explain the results I got when I turned to a rather useful website called BidStats, a search engine for government contracts and tenders designed for those interested in bidding. When I looked for Fujitsu contracts over the last year, I found 27 entries. A few of those are double counts: there was sometimes an entry for both tender and contract. But even if you omit those, there were still more than 20 entries, involving a dizzying array of government departments, devolved administrations, quangos and other public bodies. They include the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Health & Social Care, Social Security Scotland, the Northern Ireland Department of Finance, the Foreign Office and the British Council. Some of the contracts I looked at extend for the next three years. You and I are going to be contributing to Fujitsu's profits for quite some time. The really staggering revelation is that the Post Office is shelling out up to £72m to extend the Horizon Services agreement from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. This is, we are told, for 'IT services: consulting, software development, internet and support' needed 'in order to prepare the Horizon Agreement for expiry and in order to receive transitional support'. The Post Office told me that 'it's simply not possible to turn off Horizon overnight and get a new system up and running the following day'. 'We have been trying to come off Horizon/Fujitsu for a number of years,' I was told. But another pertinent question is this: why is Fujitsu still making money off Horizon? The company says it is in discussions about contributing to the huge compensation bill that the taxpayer – not anyone connected with the scandal – is having to shoulder. Let me be very clear, I am not arguing against the payments. Far from it. The people who have suffered so horribly deserve every last penny. The government should pull its finger out to ensure they are paid. But while the discussions proceed, shouldn't the company be covering the work needed to disentangle the Post Office from its system pro bono until a suitable replacement can be found and installed at the Post Office's 11,000+ branches? I believe it should. I received a similar response to that of the Post Office from HM Revenue & Customs, concerning the £300m worth I referred to at the outset. Here it is: 'This extension will be for a limited time on strict terms to protect essential HMRC services.' But then the plot thickens. There was also a £125m contract 'to deliver a modern digitally enabled ICT solution that will support the transformation of Land Registration Services' awarded by Northern Ireland Department of Finance. That is new work, not an extension. Fujitsu says it is because it was named as the 'preferred bidder' before its promise (a promise that looks to me like it has more holes in it than Swiss cheese). The Cabinet Office, which is front and centre on this, said: 'We have been clear that those responsible for the Horizon scandal must be held to account. Fujitsu has committed to withdraw from bidding for contracts with new government customers until the Post Office Inquiry concludes. We will not hesitate to take action, where appropriate, based on the final findings of the inquiry.' That's rather better than the trite message paymaster general Nick Thomas-Symonds delivered when he was questioned on the subject of Fujitsu contracts by LBC, earlier this week: 'With regard to Fujitsu, that's a matter for procurement,' he said. 'Those matters are looked at extremely carefully. We have to – procurement has a particular legal framework around it.' Here's the problem: Migrating from one IT platform to another is complex and expensive, and also risky. We all know what happened when TSB tried to switch from an IT platform provided by its previous owner, Lloyds Banking Group, to one operated by Sabadell after the Spanish bank took over the UK bank. Chaos ensued, with queues of angry customers lining up at branches after they were locked out of their accounts. However, given the flaws with Horizon – and especially the way this affair was handled by all concerned, not to mention the damage done – it is simply unconscionable that Fujitsu continues to pick up multi-million-pound awards of work. It doesn't matter that these are (mostly) extensions designed to ensure 'continuity of service'. The government needs to try harder. It should also reflect on whether it is a good idea to become so deeply reliant on a company that a divorce appears to be horribly difficult – if not impossible.
Telegraph
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Civil servants accused of fresh Post Office cover-up
Senior civil servants have been accused of covering up a report that could have exonerated sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft. According to newly released emails, government officials removed any reference to a secret report that contained 'explosive' evidence about vulnerabilities in the Horizon computer system and bullying by Post Office prosecutors in correspondence with the National Audit Office (NAO). The report, which was compiled by Sir Jonathan Swift KC in 2016, was previously found to have been buried by the Post Office as it prepared to fight a legal case against more than 500 former sub-postmasters. However, The Telegraph can now reveal that civil servants at the UK Government Investments (UKGI) department, which manages the state shareholding in the Post Office, also kept the Swift review secret from the NAO. The revelation comes after the official inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal said it was likely 13 people took their own lives as a result of the miscarriage of justice. Sir Wyn Williams, the chairman of the public inquiry, said Post Office bosses knew Fujitsu's Horizon software was faulty but had 'maintained the fiction' that a version of it 'was always, always accurate'. In emails seen by The Telegraph from November 2018, UKGI officials recommended deleting reference to the Swift review in correspondence with the National Audit Office (NAO), the Government's financial watchdog. The Swift review was critical of the Post Office's tactic of pressuring sub-postmasters into pleading guilty to false accounting. The NAO asked UKGI for information while it was investigating the Post Office's decision to use public money to defend a lawsuit led by the former postmasters in 2018. This prompted immediate concern among UKGI officials, who raised fears internally about how documents could be used. Following a meeting to discuss the issue, a UKGI official sent an email to Richard Callard, head of risk and compliance, and Richard Watson, UKGI's general counsel, that said: 'I would not include specific reference to Jonathan Swift in the timeline for the NAO as I am not sure this was made public. 'Just say the Chair (Tim Parker) undertook a review, and that when you talk to the NAO, you can say you understand he took some independent legal advice as part of it or something.' Two minutes later, Mr Watson replied: 'I would just remove the reference entirely. As I understand it, the Swift review was never concluded.' Soon after, the UKGI civil servant responded: 'Thanks Richard. I will remove the Swift review then.' The Government has since claimed that UKGI did not have access to the Swift report until 2020. However, officials' awareness of its existence and decision to delete reference to it will raise questions about their decision-making, particularly as lawyers and former ministers claim that suppression of the Swift Report contributed to the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history. 'This new disclosure is very important,' said Paul Marshall, a barrister who acted for three sub-postmasters in their appeals against their criminal convictions. 'It tends to confirm a view I have held for a long time that it is possible the Government and civil servants were complicit in a cover-up.' It will also support claims by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, a former Post Office minister, who previously told a government inquiry that the 'explosive' Swift review had been 'buried and suppressed'. 'Airbrushed from the narrative' The internal UKGI emails were obtained by Eleanor Shaikh, a teaching assistant who has campaigned for justice for the sub-postmasters, under the Freedom of Information Act. She told The Telegraph: 'Instead of an impartial and transparent response to the NAO, the UKGI officials buried a document which threatened the very foundation of the Post Office's defence. Their carefully crafted communications allowed for plausible deniability. 'They knew the Swift review existed but actively colluded to airbrush it from the narrative. They were acting in the interests not of justice but of the Government.'
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Government urges Fujitsu to pay compensation to victims of Post Office scandal
Fujitsu has been urged by the Government to make interim compensation payouts to victims of the Post Office scandal. The call came as critics pointed out the Japanese tech giant had 'paid not one penny' for the 'havoc and misery that it helped to cause'. They also argued the under-fire company 'should be nowhere near' new Government contracts as it emerged it continued to secure lucrative multimillion-pound deals with Whitehall, bankrolled by the taxpayer. The company has already acknowledged it has a 'moral obligation' to contribute to compensation, pending the outcome of the public inquiry led by Sir Wyn Williams. The firm has come under renewed pressure after the publication of the first part of Sir Wyn's final report. It found around 1,000 people were wrongly prosecuted and convicted after Fujitsu's defective Horizon accounting system made it appear as though money was missing at their Post Office branches. Some victims were sent to prison or financially ruined, others were shunned by their communities, and some took their own lives. The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after ITV broadcast the drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which highlighted the scandal. Sir Wyn said around 10,000 people are eligible to submit compensation claims following what has been dubbed as the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history. Labour former MP Kevan Jones, who now sits in the upper chamber as Lord Beamish, has been a long-standing champion for the subpostmasters. He said: 'To date, the Government and taxpayers have paid over a billion pounds, quite rightly, to those victims. 'Fujitsu have not paid one penny piece. They may have a moral obligation, but moral obligations do not pay compensation.' He added: 'So when will the Government get on and force Fujitsu to act on its moral obligations, put its hands in its pockets and at least pay some interim payments? Responding, Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent said: 'With regards to the payments by Fujitsu, we urge them to make interim payments, but there are ongoing conversations with Fujitsu, including regular meetings with the Crown representative, the Cabinet Office and DBT (the Department for Business and Trade) and we will continue to have such meetings.' Conservative peer Lord Arbuthnot, who played a pivotal role in exposing the scandal, said: 'Fujitsu has paid not one penny towards the victims of the havoc and misery that it helped to cause. 'Is the Government – is the country – over a barrel to Fujitsu? If not, why is Fujitsu still winning government work? If we are, what are the Government doing about it?' Lady Anderson said: 'They have accepted that they have a moral obligation to give funds, but he will be even more aware than I am that we are yet to see a penny. 'Fujitsu have agreed that they will have to make a financial contribution, but I am urged not to give a running commentary, although we will welcome any interim payment in due course.' In addition to extensions available under Fujitsu's existing contracts, a further 12 new deals had been struck with the company over the last year. The Government has said the majority are for services already provided by Fujitsu and were put in place to ensure continuity of services. Liberal Democrat Lord Clement-Jones raised concerns over HM Revenue & Customs continuing to award contacts to Fujitsu. He said: 'In the light of the Horizon report, which condemns Fujitsu's conduct as a key contributor to the suffering of thousands of innocent people, isn't it already very clear that Fujitsu should be nowhere near any new contract?' Lady Anderson said: 'Some of this is about continuity of service, to make sure that we are still able to have business supply secured.' Given the 'human tragedies' caused by the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters, Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick pressed the minister over due diligence measures 'to ensure that contractors with a history of significant failures or legal issues can demonstrate that they have addressed these concerns before being awarded new contracts'. Lady Anderson said new procurement legislation provided buyers with more scope to exclude suppliers who had performed poorly on previous contracts. She added: 'Due diligence on such failures is also more straightforward as the act now provides for the sharing of information on poorly performing suppliers.' A Fujitsu spokesperson said: 'We remain committed to providing our full cooperation to the inquiry as Sir Wyn prepares his final report and we are engaged with Government regarding Fujitsu's contribution to compensation.' They added: 'We continue to work with the UK Government to ensure we adhere to the voluntary restrictions we put in place regarding bidding for new contracts while the Post Office inquiry is ongoing.'
The Independent
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Government urges Fujitsu to pay compensation to victims of Post Office scandal
Fujitsu has been urged by the Government to make interim compensation payouts to victims of the Post Office scandal. The call came as critics pointed out the Japanese tech giant had 'paid not one penny' for the 'havoc and misery that it helped to cause'. They also argued the under-fire company 'should be nowhere near' new Government contracts as it emerged it continued to secure lucrative multimillion-pound deals with Whitehall, bankrolled by the taxpayer. The company has already acknowledged it has a 'moral obligation' to contribute to compensation, pending the outcome of the public inquiry led by Sir Wyn Williams. The firm has come under renewed pressure after the publication of the first part of Sir Wyn's final report. It found around 1,000 people were wrongly prosecuted and convicted after Fujitsu's defective Horizon accounting system made it appear as though money was missing at their Post Office branches. Some victims were sent to prison or financially ruined, others were shunned by their communities, and some took their own lives. The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after ITV broadcast the drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which highlighted the scandal. Sir Wyn said around 10,000 people are eligible to submit compensation claims following what has been dubbed as the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history. Labour former MP Kevan Jones, who now sits in the upper chamber as Lord Beamish, has been a long-standing champion for the subpostmasters. He said: 'To date, the Government and taxpayers have paid over a billion pounds, quite rightly, to those victims. 'Fujitsu have not paid one penny piece. They may have a moral obligation, but moral obligations do not pay compensation.' He added: 'So when will the Government get on and force Fujitsu to act on its moral obligations, put its hands in its pockets and at least pay some interim payments? Responding, Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent said: 'With regards to the payments by Fujitsu, we urge them to make interim payments, but there are ongoing conversations with Fujitsu, including regular meetings with the Crown representative, the Cabinet Office and DBT (the Department for Business and Trade) and we will continue to have such meetings.' Conservative peer Lord Arbuthnot, who played a pivotal role in exposing the scandal, said: 'Fujitsu has paid not one penny towards the victims of the havoc and misery that it helped to cause. 'Is the Government – is the country – over a barrel to Fujitsu? If not, why is Fujitsu still winning government work? If we are, what are the Government doing about it?' Lady Anderson said: 'They have accepted that they have a moral obligation to give funds, but he will be even more aware than I am that we are yet to see a penny. 'Fujitsu have agreed that they will have to make a financial contribution, but I am urged not to give a running commentary, although we will welcome any interim payment in due course.' In addition to extensions available under Fujitsu's existing contracts, a further 12 new deals had been struck with the company over the last year. The Government has said the majority are for services already provided by Fujitsu and were put in place to ensure continuity of services. Liberal Democrat Lord Clement-Jones raised concerns over HM Revenue & Customs continuing to award contacts to Fujitsu. He said: 'In the light of the Horizon report, which condemns Fujitsu's conduct as a key contributor to the suffering of thousands of innocent people, isn't it already very clear that Fujitsu should be nowhere near any new contract?' Lady Anderson said: 'Some of this is about continuity of service, to make sure that we are still able to have business supply secured.' Given the 'human tragedies' caused by the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters, Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick pressed the minister over due diligence measures 'to ensure that contractors with a history of significant failures or legal issues can demonstrate that they have addressed these concerns before being awarded new contracts'. Lady Anderson said new procurement legislation provided buyers with more scope to exclude suppliers who had performed poorly on previous contracts. She added: 'Due diligence on such failures is also more straightforward as the act now provides for the sharing of information on poorly performing suppliers.' A Fujitsu spokesperson said: 'We remain committed to providing our full cooperation to the inquiry as Sir Wyn prepares his final report and we are engaged with Government regarding Fujitsu's contribution to compensation.' They added: 'We continue to work with the UK Government to ensure we adhere to the voluntary restrictions we put in place regarding bidding for new contracts while the Post Office inquiry is ongoing.'
