Unique The Northern Eire authorities didn’t ask Fujitsu to proceed bidding for a £125 million ($167 million) contract, but the Japanese tech large to continued to take action, regardless of promising to stop competing for UK authorities work in the course of the fallout from the Horizon scandal.

As public outcry surrounding the scandal — one of many biggest miscarriages of justice in latest British historical past — reached its peak in early 2024, Fujitsu, the provider of the Horizon laptop system, mentioned it might cease bidding for work with new authorities prospects till the top of the Put up Workplace Horizon IT Inquiry.

In an announcement to The Register, a Fujitsu spokesperson mentioned: “Fujitsu was named most well-liked bidder for this contract in 2023, earlier than the voluntary restrictions got here into place.”

Horizon is an EPOS and backend finance system for 1000’s of Put up Workplace branches across the UK, first applied by ICL, a UK know-how firm majority owned by Fujitsu within the Nineties and later taken over by the Japanese large. From 1999 till 2015, round 736 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses had been wrongfully convicted of fraud when errors within the system had been responsible, destroying the lives of many concerned. Whereas quite a few convictions have been quashed within the courts, 60 folks died earlier than simply seeing any form of justice served. A statutory inquiry into the mass miscarriage of justice launched in 2021 is ongoing.

In January 2024, after the screening of a TV drama introduced the scandal to better public consideration, Fujitsu Companies Ltd director Paul Patterson confirmed the corporate wouldn’t proceed bidding for public sector work till the top of the Inquiry.

“[T]right here is not any limitation or caveat on our intention to pause bidding for work with new authorities prospects till the Inquiry has reported… We’d solely bid for work with a brand new authorities buyer if requested to take action,” he mentioned, in response to a letter [PDF] to the Cupboard Workplace from Dave Riley, Fujitsu head of UK public sector, dated February 6, 2024.

Nonetheless, in April 2025, Fujitsu won a £125 million ($167 million) contract to construct Northern Eire’s new land registry system and substitute an getting old standalone legacy system.

Each Fujitsu and Northern Eire’s Division of Finance, which awarded the contract, have mentioned the award complies with UK procurement regulation.

Nonetheless, Fujitsu has yet to explain how its determination to proceed bidding for the work, a course of which started in December 2021, meets the necessities of its dedication to not proceed bidding for presidency contracts.

In a response to Gerry Carroll, a Member of the Legislative Meeting for Individuals Earlier than Revenue, John O’Dowd, Northern Eire Government finance minister, mentioned: “Public contracts are awarded in strict adherence to procurement coverage and laws. I’ve been suggested that officers within the Division, and its arm’s-length physique, haven’t approached Fujitsu to request they proceed to tender for public contracts.”

Since Patterson was clear that there was no “limitation or caveat on our intention to pause bidding” except the shopper particularly requested the corporate proceed to bid, he had the chance to say there can be a caveat to his dedication if Fujitsu was already a “most well-liked bidder”. Certainly, he might have mentioned that the tech providers firm was within the means of bidding for the Northern Eire Division of Finance challenge and would proceed with that particular bid.

The Register has requested why he didn’t make this clear on the time.

Now we have additionally requested Fujitsu whether or not Patterson or Riley knew Fujitsu was bidding for the Northern Eire Division of Finance Land Registration Supply Companion Mission on the time they promised to “pause bidding for work with new authorities prospects.” Regardless of a number of prompts, Fujitsu has refused to reply this query.®


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