Overview

• The Post Office has spent over £600 million maintaining the faulty Horizon IT system since deciding to replace it more than a decade ago.
• Horizon, introduced in 1999 under a £548 million deal with Fujitsu, falsely implicated around 700 sub-postmasters in financial crimes, leading to wrongful convictions overturned by Parliament in 2019.
• The Post Office finally acquired control of Horizon’s core code in 2023 but remains dependent on Fujitsu for system maintenance under an extended contract ending next March.
• A 2016 attempt to replace Horizon failed at a cost of £40 million, and seven in ten sub-postmasters surveyed since 2020 report continued unexplained discrepancies in the system.
• Police investigations into potential crimes by staff at the Post Office and Fujitsu are ongoing, with calls for Fujitsu to begin substantive compensation payments before the public inquiry concludes.