Post Office Scandal: Treasury Committee to look into Fujitsu’s work with other public sector bodies

The Commons Treasury Committee has reached out to 21 public bodies, including the Bank of England, HMRC, and the Treasury, seeking information about public sector contracts granted to Fujitsu. 

The letters from the committee specifically request "details of any contracts awarded by your organisation" to Fujitsu since 2019, a pivotal year when the High Court ruled that prosecutions related to the company's Horizon IT system at the Post Office were unjust.

The committee has set a two-week deadline for responses. According to analysts Tussell, the public sector has allocated nearly 200 contracts to Fujitsu since 2012, totalling £6.8 billion. Approximately 43 of these contracts, valued at £3.6 billion, are still active. Notable contracts include the one for the Post Office Horizon system and agreements with government departments such as the Home Office, the Foreign Office, Defra, and the Ministry of Defence.

The letter sent to organizations, including the Royal Mint and the Financial Conduct Authority, seeks information on the value of any Fujitsu contracts, considerations of supplier risk, steps taken to preclude Fujitsu from bidding on tenders, and processes for evaluating contract performance. It also inquires about internal or external commentary on the appropriateness of the contracts and whether termination was contemplated.

The inquiry is prompted by the revelation that more than 700 Post Office branch managers were wrongly convicted due to Fujitsu's accounting software, Horizon, creating the illusion of missing money. The recent dramatization of this saga on ITV has fueled public outcry. Harriett Baldwin MP, the chair of the Treasury Committee, emphasised the need to assess the extent of taxpayer money spent on Fujitsu since the High Court ruling, particularly as the company is concurrently being evaluated for its fitness to remain a government supplier.

In response to the ongoing inquiry, Fujitsu has expressed its "deepest apologies" to the wronged subpostmasters and confirmed its commitment to contribute to compensation payments for those affected by the Horizon IT scandal. Additionally, the company has decided not to bid for government contracts while the inquiry into the scandal is underway.