Post Office renews £40m contract for faulty Horizon IT software ...Middle East

The Post Office has paid £40m to extend its contract with Fujitsu and continue using the controversial Horizon IT software, The i Paper can reveal.

At least 900 subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were wrongly prosecuted for apparent financial shortfalls caused by faults in the accounting software, in what has been described as one of the UK’s biggest miscarriages of justice.

Despite that, data shows the Post Office has renewed its contract with Fujitsu to continue using Horizon at a cost of £40.8m.

Victims of the Post Office scandal said the contract’s extension felt “like a kick in the teeth” as a large portion of postmasters and postmistresses still have not been compensated.

The Post Office previously said it planned to replace Horizon with “new branch technology” but would maintain the old IT software until the new technology is developed.

A spokesperson for the Post Office said that, while it is too early to speculate about when Horizon will be replaced, it is “committed to delivering a lower-risk, better-value new branch IT for postmasters”.

Janet Skinner, 54, a former subpostmistress from Hull, was handed a nine-month sentence for theft in 2007 after £59,000 appeared to be missing from her Post Office branch.

She served three months of that sentence before being released with an electronic tag, but was hospitalised in 2008 with a stress-related illness she says was caused by her ordeal.

“Basically, my body had broken down,” Ms Skinner said. “My immune system had been broken down and my body started attacking itself.

“I had to learn to walk again, which took me two years,” she added. “I have a lot of mobility issues and I am left with a permanent disability.

“I have not been able to work since.”

Commenting on the extension of Fujitsu’s contract, Ms Skinner, who has not yet been fully compensated, said: “It’s an insult. It’s like they are rewarding them for their bad behaviour.

“There needs to be accountability and accountability is not awarding contracts to a company that has been at the forefront of this scandal.

“It just infuriates me. Absolutely infuriates me. God knows what the other postmasters are feeling. It’s just like being kicked in the teeth.”

A Fujitsu spokesperson said: “We are focused on supporting the Post Office in their plans for a new service delivery model, so branches can continue to deliver key services to the public.”

Christopher Head became a subpostmaster in West Bolden, near Sunderland, in 2006 when he was 18 and is believed to be the youngest victim of the Horizon scandal.

He was sued by the Post Office in the civil courts for more than £80,000 that was supposedly missing from his branch and has not yet been compensated.

Mr Head told The i Paper: “You are a central pillar in the community as a postmaster, so everybody knows you, even people that don’t use the business know you.

“When you get accused of fraud and false accounting, that reputation is destroyed immediately.

“It’s very hard. You don’t want to leave the house because you know people are talking about you. You don’t want to socialise.

“It has an impact on your family, it affects your relationships, too. My father used to go to the local pubs and he would overhear conversations about me, his son, being suspended for fraud and theft. It’s really damaging.”

Responding to Fujitsu’s new contract, he added: “We understand that in order to transition to a new system you have to maintain the old one until you get to the point that you are satisfied. In this circumstance, with the Post Office, you’d be more cautious given what’s happened with the previous system.”

Fujitsu said in January 2024 it would “pause bidding” for Government contracts, unless there were “existing customer relationships”, agreed need for Fujitsu’s products and services or the company was “actively engaged in a live procurement”.

“It’s just frustrating,” Mr Head added. “We are fighting tooth and nail to get what’s due to people to help them rebuild their lives, and yet the Post Office is giving tens of millions of pounds to Fujitsu.

“It’s making all this money and yet postmasters are still suffering.”

At the end of November, about £499m had been paid to more than 3,300 claimants involved in the Post Office scandal across four schemes.

The Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, led by Sir Alan Bates, is battling for compensation for 555 former subpostmasters who took part in landmark group legal action against the Post Office.

Five years on from winning an initial court battle, and a year after the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office sharpened the focus on the miscarriage of justice, no deadline has been set for when they will receive redress.

Around 70 of the workers in Sir Alan’s Group Litigation Order (GLO) scheme have died, and the campaigner fears more may not live to see justice served, with a new legal battle brewing over compensation delays.

The Government has said it is making almost 90 per cent of initial GLO offers within 40 working days of receiving completed claims.

It also urged people who have not yet issued their completed claims to come forward and “claim back what they are owed”.

Responding to Sir Alan’s campaign, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We want redress as quickly as possible.

Alan Bates: Contract for Fujistu shows Government 'held to ransom'

“What we don’t want to do is set an absolute cut-off date which would result in some claimants missing the deadline.

“But each postmaster eligible should receive substantial redress by the end of March.”

The Post Office has also set out a five-year ‘Transformation Plan’ to deliver a ‘New Deal for Postmasters’ that will increase their income by £250 million annually by 2030.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “As part of delivering our Transformation Plan and a ‘New Deal for Postmasters’ it has been necessary to agree a one-year contract extension with Fujitsu. We are committed to delivering a lower-risk, better-value new branch IT for postmasters.”

In December, the miscarriages of justice watchdog said it is examining seven cases related to a second IT scandal at the Post Office, first revealed by The i Paper, after it was “officially recognised” by the Government.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission said it is working with the Department for Business and Trade and the Post Office to identify any other cases related to Capture, a faulty IT system rolled out to thousands of branches in the 1990s.

Steve Robson, The i Paper‘s Northern Correspondent, has been shortlisted for the Scoop of the Year at the annual Press Awards for his coverage of the second IT scandal.

The Government has been approached for comment.

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