Brit politicians question Fujitsu's continued role in public sector contracts

原始链接: https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/25/fujitsu_public_sector_contracts/

British MPs and peers are challenging the government's decision to allow Fujitsu to bid for new IT contracts, despite the company's earlier pledge to halt bidding following the Post Office Horizon scandal. Fujitsu supplied the faulty Horizon system that led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of subpostmasters. Despite the scandal and Fujitsu's initial promise, the company won a £125 million contract for Northern Ireland's land registry in April 2025. Concerns are rising that Fujitsu continues to pursue lucrative contracts like the £370 million Trader Support Service (TSS) while the company hasn't contributed to victim compensation. Several MPs have questioned the government's assessment of Fujitsu's suitability for contracts, particularly the TSS, given the Horizon failures. While government officials state that contracts are awarded according to procurement law, there's growing pressure to assess the ethics of awarding further contracts to Fujitsu before they compensate victims of the Horizon scandal. Some are calling for Fujitsu to be designated as a high-risk vendor.

A Hacker News thread discusses the UK government's continued use of Fujitsu for public sector contracts despite past failures and scandals. Users question why Fujitsu isn't banned from bidding, citing potential procurement rule limitations or underlying benefits for decision-makers. Some argue that using Fujitsu, even with its history, is seen as the "best bid" due to cost, while others emphasize the intangible costs of dishonesty and the devastating impact on victims. A detailed comment suggests that government IT spending operates differently from household budgets, as the government recoups its investment through various taxes generated by large contractors like Fujitsu, contributing to economic "growth" and tax revenue. However, others counter that this logic ignores opportunity costs and assumes all spending is equally productive, with some pointing out examples of funds spent on foreign software. Overall, the discussion highlights a complex interplay of economic, ethical, and practical considerations surrounding government contracting decisions.

原文

British MPs and peers are questioning the government's decision to continue accepting bids for large-scale IT contracts from Fujitsu, despite the Japanese supplier's previous pledge to stop bidding.

Following the widespread publicity around the Post Office Horizon scandal in January 2024, Fujitsu, which supplied the faulty computer system, volunteered to stop bidding for UK public sector contracts until the public inquiry had completed.

At the time, the Japanese computer giant was in the process of bidding for a contract to build Northern Ireland's new land registry system. It won the £125 million contract in April 2025.

In letters to the Cabinet Office in January and February 2024, Fujitsu said it would "only bid for work with a new government customer if asked to do so." The Northern Ireland government has confirmed it did not ask Fujitsu to continue bidding.

A number of members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords – the UK's two legislative chambers – have since called on the government to clarify Fujitsu's role in public sector contracting while a public inquiry into the Horizon scandal continues.

Horizon is an EPOS and back-end finance system for thousands of Post Office branches around the UK, first implemented by ICL, a UK technology company majority-owned by Fujitsu in the 1990s and later taken over by the Japanese giant. From 1999 until 2015, around 736 subpostmasters were wrongfully convicted of fraud when errors in the system were to blame, destroying the lives of many involved. While a number of convictions have been quashed in the courts, 60 people died before just seeing any sort of justice served. A statutory inquiry into the mass miscarriage of justice launched in 2021 is expected to publish its first report in July.

Fujitsu has yet to contribute to victim compensation, although it has accepted a "moral obligation" to do so. The Register understands that MPs and Lords are concerned that the company continues to win and bid for lucrative government contracts while the compensation question remains open.

In June, Conservative MP Mark Garnier tabled a Parliamentary question asking Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves if the Treasury had assessed Fujitsu's suitability to bid for the Trader Support Service (TSS), a seven-year, £370 million contract to support a digital platform and call center to handle trading arrangements over the Northern Ireland border, "in the context of the failures of the Horizon system."

Fujitsu is the incumbent supplier of the system, and has been awarded around £500 million since 2020.

In response to Garnier, exchequer secretary James Murray said that contracting opportunities were "available to any economic operator that is able to meet the requirements of the procurement in compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015."

On June 17, Lord Bellingham asked what assessment the government had made of the "propriety of Fujitsu's bid for the TSS contract in the light of the fact that the company has not yet contributed to compensation for victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal." The question was due an answer in seven days, and the government has yet to reply.

Bellingham, a former Conservative minister, has written that Fujitsu is rebidding for the TSS. Fujitsu has been asked for comment.

Sir Gavin Williamson, former defence and education secretary, this month asked Reeves whether the government has formally invited Fujitsu to rebid for the TSS and "what assessment she has made of the potential impact of awarding the contract to Fujitsu on the reputation of that service."

Labour's Murray responded that the government contracts in question were being completed within procurement law and are publicly available. "We follow government procurement rules," he said. "Under the applicable legislation, there are no legal grounds that prevent Fujitsu from expressing its interest in this procurement. It is not appropriate to comment on any potential outcomes of a live public procurement."

Last week, Conservative MP Bob Blackman asked minister for the Cabinet Office Nick Thomas-Symonds if he planned to "make an assessment of the potential merits of removing Fujitsu's access to public sector contract opportunities, in the context of the Horizon IT failures."

He also asked the secretary of state for business and trade, Jonathan Reynolds, whether his department was considering designating Fujitsu as a high-risk vendor under the Procurement Act 2023, in the context of the failures of the Horizon system.

The responses to both questions remain overdue.

The Cabinet Office, Treasury, Department for Business and Trade, and Fujitsu were offered the opportunity to comment. ®