Publish Workplace contract with Fujitsu has possibility to increase into 2028
The Publish Workplace’s contract with Fujitsu for the provider’s Horizon system has a built-in choice to proceed into 2028.
The information earlier this week that the deal was being prolonged 12 months to March 2027, costing a further £41m, was criticised by Publish Workplace scandal victims and campaigners. However the official tender features a built-in possibility for as much as one other 12 months, which sources consider will inevitably be taken up.
The tender mentioned: “Nonetheless, based mostly on the transition plan from substitute provider, additional extension of 6-12 months could also be required.”
If the choice included within the newest settlement is taken up as some sources consider shall be obligatory, it may add one other £41m plus inflation to the associated fee to taxpayers.
One specialist IT contract lawyer, who wished to stay nameless, mentioned: “I believe there’s each likelihood of this dragging over into 2028. It’s not simply the system, however knowledge that can presumably have to be migrated. That may be a advanced course of, particularly in testing and validating the information switch.”
The Horizon system is on the centre of the scandal which noticed subpostmasters blamed and punished for account shortfalls attributable to pc errors. Tons of of individuals had been wrongly convicted of crimes based mostly on knowledge from the defective system, with many despatched to jail. Many extra had their lives ruined because of large monetary prices, with the system linked to 13 suicides and 10 tried suicides.
The tender discover for the current deal said: “As a way to enable for continuity while we full the procurement train and to start the transition course of away from [Fujitsu], an extension of a further one 12 months to 31 March 2027 is required.”
‘Technical and financial causes’
It described the reasoning for the Fujitsu extension: “For numerous important technical and financial causes, a change of contractor would trigger important inconvenience and substantial duplication of prices for the [Post Office.]”
Following information of the extension earlier this week, the Voice of the Postmaster posted on X: “They (Fujitsu) ought to present it freed from cost till we now have a reputable various! Prospects are aghast once we inform them that we’re nonetheless utilizing Horizon!”
The newest contract for £41m contains £3m to improve finish of life elements of Horizon.
Earlier this week, the Publish Workplace mentioned: “We’re dedicated to transferring away from Fujitsu and off the Horizon system as quickly as attainable. We’re bringing in a special provider to take over Horizon whereas a brand new system is developed, and this course of is nicely underway.”
Makes an attempt to exchange the Horizon system have already seen a number of extensions and a significant in-house undertaking scrapped after a authorities report final 12 months discovered that budgets ballooned from £180m to £1.1bn.
It was April 2021, following damning findings concerning Horizon within the Excessive Courtroom, when the Publish Workplace introduced it was making ready for the tip of the Horizon settlement with Fujitsu, including an additional 12 months to help its transition to a brand new system.
The Publish Workplace scandal was first uncovered by Laptop Weekly in 2009, revealing the tales of seven subpostmasters and the issues they suffered resulting from Horizon accounting software program, which led to essentially the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British historical past (see under timeline of Laptop Weekly articles concerning the scandal since 2009).
Learn extra: Fujitsu’s function within the Publish Workplace scandal: The whole lot it’s essential to know, and The whole lot it’s essential to know concerning the Publish Workplace scandal.
