The Post Office in the UK has been embroiled in controversy over its reliance on the Horizon IT system, a situation that has escalated over the years. Recent investigations reveal that the Post Office has spent over £600 million of public funds to continue using this flawed software system, a decision made despite earlier intentions to replace it. This situation has persisted for more than a decade, raising questions about the accountability and effectiveness of both the Post Office and its agreements with Fujitsu, the technology giant behind Horizon.
The original contract for Horizon, which was signed in 1999 under the Labour government led by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, has been criticized for its lack of foresight and its detrimental implications for the Post Office and its sub-postmasters. At the core of the issue was the failure to secure ownership of the underlying software code, which left the Post Office unable to make independent assessments of the software’s functionality and forced it to rely heavily on assurances from Fujitsu. This situation led to significant financial and operational repercussions, impacting approximately 700 sub-postmasters who were prosecuted for alleged theft, fraud, and false accounting based on erroneous transactions reported by Horizon.
The Post Office’s predicament was highlighted in a recent statement from the organization, which apologized unreservedly to the victims of the Horizon IT scandal and confirmed its commitment to moving on from Fujitsu. Despite expressing the desire to switch suppliers since 2012, the Post Office has found it financially unfeasible to buy the rights to the core software or to create a new system. The mounting costs associated with retaining Horizon, including a recent £107 million extension of its contract with Fujitsu, only complicate matters further.
Business Minister Baroness Jones of Whitchurch recently pointed out in the House of Lords that the Post Office remains dependent on the Horizon system, indicating that the only immediate solution would require closing local post offices, which is not a viable option. Moreover, an attempt to transition to a new system developed by IBM in 2016 failed, costing £40 million and adding to the Post Office’s ongoing troubles.
Importantly, in 2023, the Post Office finally secured some rights related to the Horizon software owing to various factors, including the financial burden and the negative public scrutiny surrounding the issue. However, there remain questions regarding whether these rights include the core system necessary for essential transaction processing. Many experts, including IT specialist Jason Coyne, have characterized this eventual acquisition of rights as a last resort, stating that it represented a far lower valuation of the code than it would typically fetch.
Concerns regarding ownership of the copyright and intellectual property rights (IPR) were flagged during the contract negotiations in the late ’90s. Documents reviewed from that period reveal that senior officials were warned about the risks of entering into agreements that would leave the Post Office exposed, particularly in terms of costs involving potential transitions to other suppliers. These warnings have now proven prescient, as the Post Office’s attempts to find a new provider for the Horizon contract have been fruitless, hampered in part by its initial contractual commitments to Fujitsu.
In conclusion, the dilemma faced by the Post Office over the Horizon IT system is not merely a tale of technological failure; it reflects broader themes of operational mismanagement, governmental oversight, and corporate responsibility. As the inquiry continues, many sub-postmasters still deal with the repercussions of the flawed system, unable to rectify the past injustices stemming from erroneous prosecutions. The situation remains ongoing, with the Post Office actively working on a five-year plan dubbed the “Future Technology Portfolio” to gradually replace the Horizon system—a move aimed at restoring trust and ensuring the operational integrity of one of the UK’s most trusted public services.