Fujitsu’s European boss will face tough questions during his upcoming appearance at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry after Fujitsu’s inaction and hollowness have been exposed.
Paul Patterson made promises to victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal and financial commitments to the government 10 months ago. These promises have led to little in the way of action, but Patterson’s reappearance means Fujitsu will have to explain why.
The Fujitsu boss, who will appear at the public inquiry for the second time on Monday 11 November, will have to justify the company’s failure to commit support to victims and the government. He may also have to explain the company’s calculated efforts to sidestep a self-imposed ban on bidding for government IT contracts, which it announced as a sacrifice after public shame was brought upon it in January.
The current phase of the public inquiry – the seventh and final stage of over two years of hearings – is focused on the here and now, as well as the future.
Patterson previously appeared in phase four of the inquiry in January, where he made the promises. During the January hearing, he was asked by Sam Stein KC, representing scandal victims, whether, beyond financial redress, Fujitsu would consider what else it could do to support victims and their families in the future.
“You may want to think that what could be done by Fujitsu is supporting people in the future, subpostmasters in future, [the] entrepreneurial endeavours [of] their families or in education,” he said. “Will Fujitsu consider that type of support?”
Patterson responded: “If I was to be able to engage in that with subpostmasters and their representatives, [that] would be absolutely something we would like to consider. I think skills in our country, without jumping too far, are very important, and I think there are things that we can do in our technology world that may or may not be of help to subpostmasters and their associated families. So, I would engage in that conversation, Mr Stein.”
His appearance this time looks to be short, squeezed into an afternoon, but there could be a lot of ground to cover. Since Patterson’s last appearance, Fujitsu has failed to give or confirm support to the families of victims of the scandal, which it said it would do following the public outcry over the Post Office scandal.
Family suffering still ignored
Katie Downey, the daughter of former subpostmaster and victim of the scandal Tony Downey, and others set up the Lost Chances for Subpostmaster Children (LCSC) campaign group in March this year. This followed Fujitsu’s Patterson promise of support for the families of victims.
But over six months later, nothing to support the victims’ families has been done, or even confirmed, by Fujitsu. Downey told Computer Weekly: “It was August when he spoke with 10 of us. I can’t remember exact words. It was an emotionally draining day with some very sensitive topics. At the time, we all felt heard and listened to and left feeling as though we had made an impact.
“We honestly thought more help would have been offered from them. He did not want to be associated with the Post Office, so I don’t understand why go to all this trouble and still not offer any help?
It’s time Fujitsu came to the table and delivered on its promises Neil Hudgell, Hudgell Solicitors
“It seems like more a tick-box exercise in my opinion. It will be interesting to see what he has to say at the inquiry when we’re there,” she added.
Neil Hudgell, a lawyer at Hudgell Solicitors who represents LCSC members, said: “It’s time Fujitsu came to the table and delivered on its promises. There is nothing to learn between now and the end of the inquiry that is not already known to them. It’s easy to share Katie’s views that this is turning into a ‘tick-box exercise’ for Fujitsu.”
In December 2020, Vipin Patel was part of the first group of subpostmasters to have their convictions overturned at Southwark Crown Court. His son, Varchas Patel, who was 23 at the time of his conviction, told Computer Weekly: “I think Fujitsu is getting away with it. They should be bearing some costs and, as they promised, helping the children of subpostmasters affected. When my father was wrongly prosecuted, I was 23 and just starting to build a future for myself, but for the past 13 years, I have been assisting my family in avoiding bankruptcy.”
Taxpayers footing the bill
Questions also need to be answered about Fujitsu’s contribution to the huge cost of the scandal to UK taxpayers. This week, the government announced in its budget £1.8bn funding towards the compensation for subpostmasters.
When asked by MPs during a select committee hearing in January whether Fujitsu would contribute to the scandal bill, expected to cost up to £1bn, Patterson said Fujitsu was “morally obligated” to contribute to the costs but the extent would be determined by the outcome of the Horizon public inquiry. There has not yet been a commitment to how much Fujitsu will pay.
In September, Computer Weekly revealed that Fujitsu’s headquarters in Japan injected £200m into the UK business to address financial indicators, which could have prevented it from bidding for UK public sector work. Fujitsu said the cash transfer “is part of a standard and regular corporate review process covering all legal entities worldwide in the Fujitsu group and is routinely performed to ensure the relevant entities are able to appropriately perform their business operations. This action was undertaken to enable FSL [Fujitsu Services Ltd] to appropriately perform all business operations.”
One Fujitsu employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Their priority is Fujitsu’s shareholders, not the subpostmasters, not employees and not customers.”
Meaningless sacrifice
Adding weight to the view expressed by the worker that Fujitsu might lack commitment to subpostmasters is the IT firm’s hollow promise in January to halt public sector bidding until the public inquiry is complete. Computer Weekly revealed leaked internal Fujitsu communications in March that showed the supplier was still targeting about £1.3bn worth of UK government contracts over the next 12 months.
The following month, it was revealed that Fujitsu staff were given a flow diagram instructing them how to bid for government contracts during the IT supplier’s self-imposed ban on bidding, which a senior UK executive said was no more than “an extra gateway”.
At the time, the Fujitsu Group said it “regards this matter with the utmost seriousness and offers its deepest apologies to the subpostmasters and their families”.
“The UK statutory public inquiry, to which our UK subsidiary is providing full cooperation, is examining complex events that have unfolded over many years, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to this cooperation,” it said.
“Based on the findings of the inquiry, we will also be working with the UK government on the appropriate actions, including contribution to compensation. The Fujitsu Group hopes for a swift resolution that ensures a just outcome for the victims.”
The Post Office scandal was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters and the problems they suffered due to Horizon accounting software, which led to the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history (see below timeline of Computer Weekly articles about the scandal since 2009).