Fury over HMRC's £67m payment for shamed Fujitsu

Firm’s contract extended despite role in Post Office scandal

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

Taxpayers will foot a £67m bill after ministers extended a postBrexit contract with the controversial firm at the heart of the Horizon IT scandal, The Independent can reveal.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has granted a year-long extension to Fujitsu, which developed the faulty software leading to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters for theft and false accounting, to run its Trader Support Service.

The service educates firms trading between Great Britain and Northern Ireland on post-Brexit red tape including how to manage customs declarations.

Fujitsu ruled itself out of bidding for government contracts in January last year due to its role in the Horizon Post Office scandal. But the extension, worth £66.8m and detailed in documents seen by The Independent, was approved because it is not a new contract.

Lord Arbuthnot, who campaigned for wrongly convicted subpostmasters, said it was “a worrying decision by the government on several levels”. He told The Independent: “First, it sends Fujitsu and other companies the message that the country doesn’t care about the unethical behaviour shown by Fujitsu in the Post Office scandal.

“Second, it weakens the government’s bargaining power in requiring Fujitsu to bear a substantial portion of the cost of that scandal. Third, it suggests that the government is uncomfortably dependent on Fujitsu. And fourth, it ignores the fact that Fujitsu’s capability on this contract may be no better than their Post Office capability. Why didn’t they start work earlier on finding someone else?”