By Charlie Conchie
The Treasury and a swathe of public bodies are being urged to hand over details of their contracts with the controversial tech firm Fujitsu as the fallout from the Post Office Horizon scandal deepens.
The influential Treasury Select Committee, headed by Tory MP Harriet Baldwin, has written to the Treasury and 21 affiliated public sector organisations demanding they cough up details of their contracts with the Japanese IT firm.
Fujitsu has been thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks over its role in the Horizon scandal that led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of sub postmasters at the Post Office. A High Court ruling in 2019 found that Fujitsu’s Horizon operating system contained bugs and there was a “material risk “ that faulty data from the firm was used in the prosecution of post office operators.
In the new round of letters revealed today, the Treasury Select Committee said it was looking to “understand the extent to which the company has continued to be awarded government contracts with HM Treasury-affiliated organisations” since the ruling in 2019.
“It’s clear that Fujitsu has questions to answer over its conduct,” chair of the Treasury Committee, Harriett Baldwin, said. “I think it’s important we can see the extent to which taxpayer money has been spent with Fujitsu since the High Court ruling as they are simultaneously assessed on their fitness to remain a government supplier.”
Among a list of demands in the letters, Baldwin has asked the bodies to provide information on whether the contracts went through proper tender processes and if the impact of
“reported issues with the Horizon system were taken into account in any contracts awarded or not awarded to Fujitsu.”
Recipients of the letter include the Office for Budget Responsibility, the Debt Management Office and the National Infrastructure Commission.
At the inquiry into the scandal today, the current boss of Fujitsu Paul Patterson apologised for the firm’s role in what he called an “appalling miscarriage of justice”.
Outrage over the scandal has been given new life in recent weeks by an ITV drama which chronicled Alan Bates and other sub postmasters’ legal battles with the firm.
