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Fujitsu has suspended bidding for UK public contracts pending the conclusion of a public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Alex Burghart, Cabinet Office minister, told MPs that the government had on Thursday received a letter from the Japanese company “voluntarily undertaking not to bid for government contracts”. The undertaking does not cover any extensions to existing contracts, according to government officials.
Fujitsu developed the flawed accounting software at the heart of the Horizon affair that resulted in more than 700 sub-postmasters being convicted of charges including theft, fraud and false accounting in cases brought by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015.
The public inquiry into the scandal, which started taking evidence in May 2022, is currently hearing from Fujitsu staff, including senior executives. It is expected to conclude hearings this summer but Sir Wyn Williams, the chair of the inquiry, has not yet set a date for publishing a final report.
Fujitsu’s move followed growing pressure on the government to block the IT services company from bidding for public sector contracts as anger grew over the scandal, which led to one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in modern British history.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the decision to suspend bidding for public contracts.
But earlier on Thursday in a statement issued from its headquarters in Tokyo, Fujitsu backed a promise made by its Europe chief executive, Paul Patterson, to contribute to the £1bn ministers have allocated to compensate sub-postmasters “based on the findings of the inquiry”.
At a parliamentary committee hearing on Tuesday, Patterson told MPs: “We were involved from the very start, we did have bugs and errors in the system and we did help the Post Office in the prosecution of sub-postmasters,” adding: “We have a part to play and to contribute to the redress fund for sub-postmasters.” The government has set aside £1bn for compensation.
Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, wrote to Fujitsu’s global chief executive, Takahito Tokita, following the committee hearing on Tuesday seeking discussions with the company over compensation, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Badenoch wrote that the government would still await the conclusions of the public inquiry but “welcome a discussion with you on the type of response Fujitsu might make and the role you foresee Fujitsu playing towards securing justice for those affected”.
The High Court ruled in 2019 that several “bugs, errors and defects” had meant there was a “material risk” that Horizon was to blame for the faulty data used in the Post Office prosecutions.
Fujitsu remained a leading software supplier to the UK government despite the scandal. It was involved in solo and joint public-sector contracts worth £4.9bn after the December 2019 High Court decision, the Financial Times reported earlier this month.
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