Fujitsu ‘managing top-secret military system’ two years after contract expired
The IT company whose faulty software is at the centre of the Post Office scandal is reportedly still managing a top-secret UK military system.
Defects in Fujitsu’s Horizon platform led to more than 900 sub-postmasters being wrongfully prosecuted, after they were blamed for apparent shortfalls in their accounts, which did not actually exist.
However, a source told the i newspaper that the Japanese firm has been managing a secretive computer system facilitating the “strategic command and control of UK Armed Forces” for decades.
The UK intelligence source also claimed Fujitsu was still overseeing the contract, despite it being reallocated to another firm almost two years ago.
The delay in moving Fujitsu away from the project is reportedly because of the deep ties the IT giant has with UK Government departments, the highly sensitive nature of the contract and waits for new staff to receive security clearances.
“The Government doesn’t want to go near them [Fujitsu] after the scandal and they now have the challenge of replacing them across some key areas of defence,” a UK intelligence source told the i.
“But they have been extended time and time again because the new suppliers haven’t been able to get going”.
The newspaper did not reveal further details about the military project, citing national security as a reason for not doing so.
Errors in the Horizon system were confirmed in a 2019 High Court judgement, on a case brought by former sub-postmaster Alan Bates and more than 500 others.
The ruling found that “bugs, errors and defects” in the system caused shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts, which saw some innocent postmasters jailed for theft and false accounting as a result.
Contracts worth billions
Earlier this year, Fujitsu informed the Cabinet Office that it would not bid for UK public contracts while the public inquiry into the Post Office scandal was ongoing.
Yet data published by the Treasury Committee in February showed public organisations affiliated with the Treasury have held more than £3.4 billion worth of contracts with Fujitsu since 2019.
Paul Patterson, the company’s European director, told MPs in January that he was “truly sorry” about the scandal and said the firm had accepted its part in the “appalling miscarriage of justice”.
A UK Government spokesperson told the i that it didn’t recognise the delays caused by security vetting, insisting instead that Fujitsu is “in the transition period between contracts, continuing to deliver their obligations as contractually agreed”.
They added: “More broadly, it is right that Fujitsu has withdrawn from bidding for new public sector contracts until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes.”
The Telegraph has contacted Fujitsu for a comment.
