Lee Williamson (right), with his solicitor, Michael Madden, whose name was cleared following wrongful prosecutions resulting from the flawed Horizon system installed by the Post Office
Fujitsu, the tech company at the centre of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, has won a place on a Northern Ireland government contract worth nearly £600m.
It had told the Government in January that it would pause bids for public sector work after its role in the Post Office scandal was highlighted.
But Fujitsu Services is now listed as one of the companies within Technology Framework Agreement 2. However, there is no certainty that it will be contracted to carry out any paid work.
A notice of the agreement, which has a value of up to £576m, was published this week by Health and Social Care within the Department of Health (DoH).
Fujitsu said it was not committed to carrying out specific work on the health and social care contract.
Framework agreements are umbrella contracts for the suppliers within a contract, with a named company’s place on a framework not a guarantee of work.
The Japanese-owned company said it had bid for the work before its undertaking to the Government in January. Its role in the scandal is among matters under scrutiny in a public inquiry.
A spokesperson for Fujitsu said: “The bidding process for Fujitsu to be part of Northern Ireland’s HSC Technology Framework Agreement 2 took place in October 2023.
“In this instance, although Fujitsu has been awarded a place on the framework, this does not commit us to any specific work.
“Going forward, call off notices will be issued, and we will work with health and social care (HSC) to decide on a case-by-case basis where Fujitsu’s services may be needed and in accordance with our voluntary undertaking to restrict where we bid for new work within the public sector.”
A ‘call off notice’ is the process within a framework contract where a request of instruction is made for actions to take place, and guaranteed work is carried out by the company.
A spokesperson for government contract research company Tussell said: “Frameworks operate like an approved supplier list, so being on one definitely increases your chance of earning money and winning contracts but there won’t have been any money exchanged until a supplier wins what is known as a ‘call off’ contract from a framework.”
The agreement is for “service delivery, transformation and operational services” and was issued by the Business Services Organisation, which provides business support functions and specialist professional services to the health and social care sector in Northern Ireland.
The other companies appointed to the framework are Telefónica Tech, BT, Capita Managed IT Solutions, Deloitte, Expleo Technology and PA Consulting Services.
Fujitsu’s flawed accounting system within the Post Office Horizon system led to errors with the recording of transactions, which were then blamed on the sub-postmasters.
As a result, more than 700 sub-postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted, though legislation has been passed to exonerate them.
A public outcry over the scandal gained momentum as a result of an ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which aired in January.
In January, Fujitsu told the Government it would not bid for new public sector work “until such time as the inquiry has reported, or, with prior consultation and support from such new government customers”.
There were 26 sub-postmasters from Northern Ireland charged as a result of the defective Horizon software.
Earlier this month, Lee Williamson from Co Tyrone was the latest to be fully exonerated after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) ended any opposition to the legal battle to clear his name.
Solicitor Michael Madden of law firm Madden & Finucane, who represents Mr Williamson and other wronged sub-postmasters in Northern Ireland, said: “There will be a lot of shock and anger that Fujitsu are trusted with large sums of public funds after what has emerged about the unreliability of their IT systems in the Post Office scandal.
“Questions remain about their culpability and whether they are adequately contributing to the redress to people who suffered as a result of their systems.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: “On behalf of Health and Social Care (HSC) NI, Business Services Organisation tendered for the Technology Framework Agreement 2 (TFA2).
“This tender was publicly advertised, under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, via Find a Tender Service (FTS) on August 25 2023, and closed on October 6 2023.
“Following these tender submissions, an evaluation process took place, and bidders were awarded a place on the framework which commenced on August 30 2024.
“Fujitsu bid for and have obtained a place on lot 1 of the framework, which is for service delivery, transformation and operational services. They were not awarded a place on lot 2.
“As this is a framework, there is no commitment to spend, and as per the rules for the TFA2, for any services that HSC require under lot 1 a secondary competition will be held, between those bidders who were awarded a place on lot 1 of the framework.”
Research by Tussell in January said Fujitsu has been awarded nearly £720m in government contracts in Northern Ireland since 2012.
A £485m contract handed to Fujitsu by the Education Authority in December last year was largest awarded here since Tussell’s records began in 2012.
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