‘Fujitsu must pay’: calls grow for Japanese firm to foot the bill in Britain’s Post Office scandal

In Japan, however, the story has barely been reported and the company’s head office appears to be trying to distance itself from the case by referring inquiries back to Fujitsu Services UK, which developed the Horizon computer software used by thousands of post offices across Britain.

The entire scandal and Fujitsu’s role in it have been thrust back into the spotlight in the UK after the screening of a television drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, at the start of the year depicting the struggles of a postmaster accused of embezzling funds.

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While the initial revelations were shocking when their full scope became apparent in High Court hearings in 2019, the four-part television programme has aroused new fury at the heavy-handed handling of the original problems by the Post Office, the failures of the government of the day and Fujitsu, as the developer of the Horizon system.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper on Monday published a story headlined “The Post Office bosses who presided over the biggest miscarriage of justice in legal history”, pointing out that all had gone on to lucrative careers elsewhere, including Paula Vennells, the chief executive who was awarded a CBE in 2019, long after the scandal had progressed to the courts, for her “services to charity and the Post Office”.

The British government has to date paid out £138 million in compensation for wrongful convictions in the scandal and, in the wake of the first episode of the drama, a government spokesman suggested it should not be British taxpayers who are out of pocket for errors committed by Fujitsu.

A strongly worded editorial published by the Telegraph on January 7 was headlined “Fujitsu must pay for Post Office scandal. Why should the taxpayer foot the bill and not those responsible?”

The editorial asked, “What of Fujitsu’s role in this outrage? It seems not only to have kept a low profile but also continues to receive public sector contracts – including one with the Post Office.”

The anger has been exacerbated by reports that Fujitsu Services reported pre-tax profits of £22 million in 2022, with its three directors receiving bonuses totalling £2.3 million.

The scandal dates back to 1994, when the British government sought tenders for a computerised system for the paying of social security benefits at post offices, in part to speed up payments but also to help reduce benefit fraud. The roll-out of the Horizon system began in 1999, reaching 11,500 post offices by the end of 2013, processing 6 million transactions a day.

The first problems were reported, however, in the weeks following the system’s introduction in 1999, with postmasters reporting repeated balancing errors at the end of their working day. The Post Office refused to accept the complaints and postmasters were forced to make up the shortfall – often to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds – out of their own pockets.

With problems continuing, the Post Office started legal procedures against postmasters, with six convictions in 2000 and 41 the following year. In total, more than 700 people were wrongfully convicted of false accounting and theft between 1999 and 2015 on the strength of Horizon data, with individuals forced to declare bankruptcy, others spending time in prison and at least four suicides blamed on the scandal.

The problems with Horizon only came to light after media coverage and an inquiry, with the High Court ruling in 2019 that computer glitches meant the system returned incorrect figures. A public inquiry confirmed that finding, and the first 39 convictions were quashed. As of today, however, the inquiry is ongoing and dozens of victims are still fighting to have convictions overturned and to receive compensation.

The Post Office, which has been accused in court of attempting to cover up the scandal, has said it cannot afford to compensate all the people involved, meaning that the British government has had to step in. And that has led to calls for Fujitsu to contribute to the compensation.

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“This is a truly bizarre story, in part because so little has been reported about the case in Japan,” said a technology analyst who declined to be named. “There has been a great deal of interest in government systems being deliberately hacked and the threats that poses to national economies, but this was an error that was ignored.

“That would back up the suggestion that we tend to trust these sorts of systems too much and that more care needs to be taken in cases such as these,” he added.

Fujitsu has declined to comment on the case, with a spokesman for the UK arm of the company saying in a statement issued to The Guardian: “The current Post Office Horizon IT statutory inquiry is examining complex events stretching back over 20 years to understand who knew what, when and what they did with that knowledge.

“The inquiry has reinforced the devastating impact on postmasters’ lives and that of their families and Fujitsu has apologised for its role in their suffering.

“Fujitsu is fully committed to supporting the inquiry in order to understand what happened and to learn from it,” the official said. “Out of respect for the inquiry process, it would be inappropriate for Fujitsu to comment further at this time.”