Post Office IT department’s focus on chasing a discount meant botched procurement

The Post Office’s IT department made a mess of the purchase of hardware for its new branch IT project because it was in a rush to get a 5% discount, a public inquiry has been told.

During the latest hearing in the Post Office scandal public inquiry, a non-executive Post Office director slammed the IT department, wider executives and procurement teams for costly mistakes.

Inquiry evidence has confirmed a Computer Weekly revelation earlier this month that mistakes in the Post Office’s plan to replace the controversial Horizon system, through the New Branch IT (NBIT) project, have left branches facing unplanned renovations and potential shortages of critical hardware. Thousands of units of point-of-sale equipment, including monitors with central processing units built in, keyboards, scanners and printers, sit unused in a warehouse.

The NBIT project, which was set to replace Horizon in 2025, was announced in May 2022 but, as revealed by Computer Weekly in May this year, the project hit major problems and the Post Office has requested £1bn of extra public funding from HM Treasury to get it back on track.  

During the latest Post Office Horizon IT Public Inquiry hearing, subpostmaster and non-executive Post Office director Saf Ismail said: “We were told at the board that we had to decide on the purchase of this hardware [and] we had to authorise it in late 2023. At the time, we were told we were getting a very good deal, hence why we did it at a 5% discount.”

Ismail, who was appointed as a non-executive director in 2021 as part of the Post Office’s plan to give subpostmasters board representation, confirmed the hardware is set to sit in warehouses for years.

He said recent board discussions have led to a conversation around whether the Post Office will be ready for NBIT in the next two to three years. It doesn’t look like it.

“It is clear we are not ready, we will not be ready for NBIT for two to three years, hence why buying this equipment was probably the wrong decision,” said Ismail.

Buying this equipment was probably the wrong decision

He said this has meant, as revealed by Computer Weekly in May, that the Post Office is looking to extend its contract with Fujitsu.

Subpostmasters could be forced to renovate their counters to fit the new hardware, which was not designed for their current setup. There could also be a shortage of replacement hardware before NBIT is completed, as support deadlines for existing branch hardware approach.

“This has been spoken about [by the] board over the last few months and I have not seen any accountability taken yet for that decision,” Ismail told the inquiry.

He blamed the “individuals in the IT department and the wider executives” for the problems, while also pointing the finger at Post Office procurement teams.

When Computer Weekly questioned the Post Office about this, a spokesperson said: “Post Office declines to comment on the points raised. As you will know, individuals such as Simon Oldnall and Chris Brocklesby will shortly be giving evidence to the inquiry and that is the appropriate forum for some of the issues raised to be responded to.”

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).

• Also read: What you need to know about the Horizon scandal •

• Also watch: ITV’s documentary – Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The real story •

• Also read: Post Office and Fujitsu malevolence and incompetence means huge taxpayers’ bill •