Exclusive: Met Police paid thousands to Fujitsu since Post Office Horizon media reports

The IT corporation at the centre of the Post Office scandal received more than £42,000 from the Met Police since concerns were raised about its Horizon system.

A public inquiry is under way into how more than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted by the publicly-owned Post Office for offences including theft and fraud, despite reports of issues with the accounting system, Horizon, developed by Fujitsu's ICL Pathway.

The Met is currently investigating whether any fraud offences were committed in the course of the scandal and the faulty prosecutions.

Following a freedom of information request asking for details of contracts since 2016, the force said it spent £42,270.60 with Fujitsu Services Ltd between 2011 and 2018.

The dates of the contracts mean that while Computer Weekly, in 2009, wollowed by the BBC, had already reported concerns about the Horizon system, the deals pre-dated the High Court ruling which found in favour of subpostmasters (2019) and the launch of the public inquiry (2020).

LondonWorld previously revealed that Fujitsu was approved as an IT contractor for the Met Police by mayor of London Sadiq Khan's office as recently as 2022. The latest disclosure by the force means that Fujitsu was not engaged since then.

Fujitsu has received billions in UK government contracts since 2012. Following increased pressure on both the authorities and the company in the wake of the Mr Bates vs The Post Office ITV series, Fujitsu this month said it would not bid for government contracts while the inquiry is ongoing.

Former postmaster Christopher Head told LondonWorld the government should have already banned the company from bidding for public sector contracts.

Mr Head, against whom the Post Office pursued a civil case based on a false claim of stealing added: And here would be no awards until they have contributed to the compensation package. Until we take a tough stance on these matters these problems will continue to happen across other sectors."

Met Police contracts with Fujitsu

Between August 31 2011 and January 29 2018, the Met spent £41,011.94 on a contract with Fujitsu for "CRM (customer relationship management) Scheduling Solution – support & maintenance".

A further contract, dated January 4 2016, saw £1,258.66 spent with the company on "CRM scheduling solution".

A Met Police spokesperson said only that the force has no current contracts with Fujitsu and has not had since 2018.

It is understood Fujitsu provides the Met Police with some catalogue hardware items such as scanners.

Met Police 'approved provider'

In approving Fujitsu as a provider for the Met Police in 2022, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) said this month that it and the force "follow public procurement rules for every procurement exercise that is undertaken".

"Through our financial oversight, we routinely monitor and review all contracts on an ongoing basis to ensure they are delivering the agreed services and providing value for money for Londoners," they said. "In this case, Fujitsu could not have been barred from the list as a result of national procurement rules mandated in law.”

Fujitsu

A spokesperson for Fujitsu previously said: "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. Out of respect for the inquiry process, it would be inappropriate for Fujitsu to comment further at this time."