Fujitsu may land over half a billion kilos in contracts from HMRC alone this 12 months because the UK public sector continues to reward the provider, regardless of its function within the Submit Workplace scandal.
HMRC is the most important supply of Fujitsu’s UK authorities earnings, however there are a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of kilos extra contracts throughout the general public sector, which Fujitsu has or is bidding for.
The massive numbers come regardless of Fujitsu’s self-imposed pause on bidding for presidency contracts being in place and because it continues to refuse to totally commit its contribution in direction of repairing a number of the injury it induced. Fujitsu supported the Submit Workplace when it blamed and prosecuted subpostmasters for unexplained account shortfalls, which had been resulting from software program errors that it was conscious of.
Peer James Arbuthnot, a long-time campaigner for Submit Workplace scandal victims, referred to as for “expunging Fujitsu from British affect”.
“If Fujitsu was not an organization however a person, it might by now be dealing with years, presumably many years, in jail,” he mentioned.
“It did greater than stand by because the subpostmasters had been maliciously prosecuted – it was an energetic, figuring out and important participant in the entire ghastly fraud,” he added. “And but it’s a firm, and one on which the federal government has grow to be unacceptably dependent.”
In line with government figures on spending, which consider all offers value over £25,000, HMRC spent greater than £240m with Fujitsu final 12 months. This 12 months’s spending may very well be double that.
The figures elevate accusations that HMRC has grow to be Fujitsu’s UK “money cow”.
His Majesty’s ‘money cow’
As revealed by Pc Weekly, regardless of reviews suggesting Fujitsu can be changed on HMRC’s Merchants Help Service, an inside assembly revealed Fujitsu is, in reality, bidding for the brand new £370m contract and is assured of a renewal of its contract, which was value £240m when the final contract was signed in 2020.
If Fujitsu was not an organization however a person, it might be dealing with years, presumably many years, in jail Peer James Arbuthnot
Pc Weekly additionally revealed a direct deal between HMRC and Fujitsu for {hardware} and cloud procurement, value over £200m and referred to as North Star, the place there isn’t a aggressive tender.
HMRC can also be extending its Pc Atmosphere for Self-Evaluation (CESA) contract value simply shy of £60m, the place Fujitsu is the incumbent.
For the broader public sector, the determine is considerably larger. For instance, in December 2024, Fujitsu received a one-year extension to its Horizon contract with the government-owned Submit Workplace, value £40m. In line with a supply, there is also as much as a dozen extra potential HMRC offers within the pipeline, in addition to a number of Residence Workplace contracts and offers with the Ministry of Defence, to call a couple of.
‘Hole’ gesture
The contracts come in the course of the Japanese provider’s self-imposed pause on bidding for brand spanking new contracts, which was introduced in January final 12 months, quickly after the published of ITV’s dramatisation of the Submit Workplace scandal put it on the centre of nationwide debate. On the time, the pause was described as “hole” by former MP, now peer, Kevan Jones. It solely included new contracts, when Fujitsu already labored with an enormous quantity of public sector organisations.
Jones, who, like Arbuthnot, has campaigned for subpostmasters for over a decade, reiterated his feedback: “These revelations present how hole Fujitsu’s public statements to not bid for brand spanking new authorities contracts are.
Having admitted its central function within the Horizon scandal, Fujitsu is hiding behind the result of the inquiry to proceed making multimillion-pound income from authorities contracts Peer Kevan Jones
“Having admitted its central function within the Horizon scandal, it’s hiding behind the result of the inquiry to proceed making multimillion-pound income from authorities contracts. The victims of the scandal and taxpayers can be rightly offended that Fujitsu has contributed nothing to the billion-pound-plus compensation scheme, whereas nonetheless reaping in income from its contracts with authorities.”
He mentioned the federal government ought to instantly put a cease on all new contracts and extensions of contracts with Fujitsu till the provider makes a considerable contribution to the compensation of victims.
Pc Weekly requested Fujitsu whether or not the bidding pause was nonetheless in place. It mentioned: “We’re working with the UK authorities to make sure we adhere to the voluntary restrictions we put in place concerning bidding for brand spanking new contracts whereas the Submit Workplace inquiry is ongoing.”
The three-year inquiry is anticipated to report its findings later this 12 months.
The provider can also be enjoying a ready sport on the subject of contributing to the prices of the Horizon scandal. In response to a Pc Weekly query, Fujitsu mentioned: “Primarily based on the findings of the inquiry, we’ll work with the UK authorities on the suitable actions, together with contribution to compensation. We proceed to supply our deepest apologies to the subpostmasters and their households.”
Heavy reliance
Pc Weekly requested the federal government whether or not it’s truthful to taxpayers that Fujitsu is rewarded with profitable authorities contracts earlier than it commits to its contribution in direction of Submit Workplace scandal prices?
The federal government was additionally requested whether or not it thinks the awarding of those contracts is truthful to victims of the scandal who’re nonetheless ready for truthful compensation, and whether it is too reliant on Fujitsu for public providers IT?
A authorities spokesperson mentioned: “We’ve got been clear that these liable for the Horizon scandal should be held accountable, however earlier than any additional motion will be taken, we should look ahead to the Horizon inquiry to conclude.
“Fujitsu units its personal boundaries for bidding on public contracts. As with all corporations, we’re protecting Fujitsu’s conduct and industrial efficiency beneath assessment.”
Arbuthnot advised Pc Weekly: “The work to start out expunging Fujitsu from British affect wants to start out now and be accomplished inside months, not years. Anything sends a message that we don’t thoughts about unethical behaviour and suggests this may stick with it for years. Why would Fujitsu really feel any strain to make a considerable contribution to the price of the Horizon scandal if it could actually foresee a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of income flowing in with out such a contribution?”
He added: “Annually, the federal government, saying there isn’t a different, extends some contract or different with Fujitsu. The federal government needs to be asking itself, ‘If this had been prisoner Smith in cell block J4, would I actually be giving him a contract value tens of hundreds of thousands of kilos?’”
Pc Weekly first uncovered the scandal in 2009, revealing the tales of seven subpostmasters and the issues they suffered resulting from Horizon accounting software program, which led to essentially the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British historical past (see beneath timeline of Pc Weekly articles in regards to the scandal since 2009).
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Sourcing from TechTarget.com & computerweekly.com
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