The Submit Workplace requested a four-year extension of its controversial Fujitsu Horizon system contract because the IT provider’s European boss arrived to offer proof on the public inquiry analyzing the system’s function within the widest miscarriage of justice in UK historical past.
Paul Patterson, Fujitsu’s head of Europe, informed the Submit Workplace scandal public inquiry that any Horizon contract extension should be as quick as doable and mentioned he doesn’t belief the Submit Workplace.
On the inquiry listening to yesterday (11 November), Patterson’s second look, he was requested concerning the anticipated extension to the Horizon contract between Fujitsu and the Submit Workplace.
He mentioned the primary request, for a five-year extension, got here in December 2023, and there have been varied requests since. “This morning, as I walked into this constructing, I had one other request, which was for 4 years. So this continues to maneuver round,” he informed the general public inquiry.
In April 2021, the Submit Workplace introduced that it was getting ready for the tip of the Horizon settlement with Fujitsu, including an additional yr to assist its transition to a brand new system. In Could 2023, it set 2025 because the goal date for the completion of the mission. However in April this yr, Pc Weekly revealed {that a} additional extension of the Horizon contract was inevitable.
Patterson informed the inquiry he’s “inspired by” the brand new management on the Submit Workplace who, he mentioned, “look like getting extra understanding and readability on what the precise enterprise necessities from the Horizon system will probably be”.
However he mentioned he has main issues concerning the continued use of the Horizon system, which has reached its “finish of life”, including that lengthy extensions may not be doable. He mentioned some components of Horizon are so previous Fujitsu doesn’t need to flip them off as it’s unsure what would occur if it did.
“I’m very anxious about it. [The extension] must be for the shortest doable time as a result of this technique just isn’t meant to be persevering with and it has not had any materials funding for the final 4 years whereas the intention has been on the New Department IT (NBIT) system or variations of NBIT,” mentioned Patterson. “It’s troublesome to know if three, 4 or 5 years will probably be doable.”
Pc Weekly revealed in Could this yr {that a} evaluation by authorities mission administration specialists on the Infrastructure and Initiatives Authority rated the NBIT mission as “at the moment unachievable”, with budgets ballooning from £180m to £1.1bn and implementation being delayed by as a lot as 5 years.
Final month, Pc Weekly revealed that the Submit Workplace’s new management is now reviewing its mission to construct the NBIT software program in-house and will go for an off-the-shelf various. Escher is claimed to be the choice that got here out prime in the course of the bidding course of, though it was rejected in favour of the in-house construct possibility.
One main controversial side of the contract is about to finish. In February 2025, the organisations will full the migration of all Horizon information, together with historic information, from Fujitsu to in-house Submit Workplace methods. This implies the Submit Workplace is not going to have to ask Fujitsu for information to assist investigations into subpostmasters with unexplained account shortfalls.
The Submit Workplace Horizon IT Inquiry is now in its seventh and last part, specializing in the Submit Workplace’s present apply and process, in addition to suggestions for the long run.
Pc Weekly first uncovered the scandal in 2009, revealing the tales of seven subpostmasters and the issues they suffered attributable to Horizon accounting software program, which led to probably the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British historical past (see under timeline of Pc Weekly articles concerning the scandal since 2009).
