IT firm behind Post Office scandal bags government contracts for £24.6m

Before the election, senior Labour MPs said the government should stop handing out contracts to Fujitsu Services – the firm that supplied the faulty IT systems at the heart of the Post Office scandal. But Good Law Project can reveal that just months after the election, the Home Office awarded the disgraced tech giant two contracts worth £24.6m.

In October, the Labour home secretary, Yvette Cooper, approved an entirely new £9.6m contract for specialist “hardware equipment”. Around two-thirds of the contract’s pages are completely redacted, but the remaining clauses make clear it was signed through a “framework agreement” which suggests the Home Office had up to 32 other suppliers they could have approached instead of Fujitsu.

This £9.6m deal comes on top of a £15m contract for “law enforcement software” which the Home Office renewed in November, taking the total bagged by Fujitsu Services since Labour came to power to £24.6m.

And this is all while sub-postmasters are still waiting to receive over two-thirds of the compensation they have been promised.

Good Law Project’s executive director, Jo Maugham, called this “a slap in the face for the victims of the Post Office scandal, as Fujitsu rakes in new multimillion-pound government contracts whilst they continue to wait for proper compensation.”

“Labour in opposition was very vocal about the need for a moratorium on new Fujitsu contracts,” Maugham said. “But now they’re in government you have to wonder what’s changed.”

Fujitsu said in January 2024 it would “pause bidding” for government contracts, unless there were “existing customer relationships”, “an agreed need for Fujitsu skills and capability” or the company was “actively engaged in a live procurement”.

The Financial Times, which has featured the story, approached the government for comment. It told the paper that “these contracts are in line with Fujitsu’s bidding approach for public contracts” and it had “been clear that those responsible for the Horizon scandal must be held accountable”. 

The government added: “Before any further action can be taken, we must wait for the Horizon Inquiry to conclude.” 

Fujitsu Services told the FT that it was “working 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”.

It added: “Based on the findings of the inquiry we will work with government on the appropriate actions, including contribution to compensation. We continue to offer our deepest apologies to the sub-postmasters and their families.”