Post Office scandal not caused by software errors, says combative Fujitsu boss

Fujitsu’s most senior executive in Europe says the Post Office scandal public inquiry has proved it is incorrect to solely blame software errors for the Post Office Horizon scandal.

Paul Patterson, the Japanese supplier’s chief executive for Europe, also revealed to the inquiry that there is currently a standstill agreement over potential civil litigation between the supplier and the Post Office – meaning the two organisations have agreed not to take legal action against each other for certain period of time.

Patterson was more combative in his latest appearance as a witness than during his first inquiry hearing in January, as well as when he spoke to a House of Commons business and trade select committee meeting the same month, when he apologised profusely for Fujitsu’s role in the scandal and made lofty promises, just days after the broadcast of the ITV drama that brought such intense scrutiny of the scandal.

In the select committee hearing Patterson had also said Fujitsu has a “moral obligation” to contribute to the costs of the scandal, which in financial redress to victims alone will cost taxpayers at least £1.8bn.

During the latest inquiry hearing, Patterson once more admitted Fujitsu’s culpability towards wrongful prosecutions of innocent subpostmasters and said the company expects to contribute to redress through the government, which will involve a conversation about what its contribution “would look like.”

Patterson hinted at Fujitsu’s negotiating position having heard more evidence in the inquiry over the course of this year: “I think from my standpoint and my company’s standpoint in Tokyo, we felt it was a moral obligation. Now, I said that back in January, and we have learnt an awful lot over several months of this inquiry about what other people and organisations did or did not do,” he said.

“I have now spent the last seven months listening to evidence… The notion that this is all down to a software bug, which has contributed to the largest miscarriage of justice in UK history, is incorrect,” he added. “These are complex matters based over many decades and we have learned as an organisation a great deal about the causes of this miscarriage of justice.”

He said Fujitsu will “sit down with the government” to discuss its financial contribution.

During the hearing Patterson also confirmed there is a “standstill agreement” between the Post Office and Fujitsu over potential civil action from both sides related to the scandal.

Sam Stein, KC, representing some of the former subpostmasters, asked Patterson if his willingness to contribute to compensation is to “stave off action from the Post Office.” Patterson said this was not the case.

Patterson was also challenged on the findings of a survey, carried out for the inquiry by YouGov, which revealed that subpostmasters are still having problems with Horizon.

The survey revealed that 57% of current subpostmasters have experienced unexplained shortfalls, including 19% reporting unexplained transactions and 14% having had transactions go missing.

Almost all (92%) of those surveyed have had an issue with the Horizon IT system in the past 12 months. Screen freezes are the most common problem, with 70% experiencing them, while 68% have lost connectivity.

Worryingly, three-quarters of surveyed subpostmasters said they have used their own branch money to cover discrepancies or resolved the issue themselves. The survey also found that nearly half (48%) were dissatisfied with how the discrepancies were resolved, compared with 19% who were satisfied.

Patterson admitted there are bugs and errors in the Horizon software, but said blaming the application for all issues is the result of too “narrow” a definition of Horizon.

He said: “My concern is the term Horizon is being used to cover everything inside the Post Office’s complete supply chain. If you were a subpostmaster this is exactly the view you would get… so it is absolutely correct from their experience.” But he said screen freezes could be caused by multiple things, connectivity is provided by other suppliers and issues with Pin pads – which are often complained about – have nothing to do with Horizon.

He also said systems that connect to Horizon, such as POLSAP, the Post Office’s SAP platform, should be examined when issues occur as well as Horizon.

The Post Office Horizon IT inquiry is now in its seventh and final phase, focusing on the Post Office’s current practice and procedure, as well as recommendations for the future.

Computer Weekly first exposed the scandal 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).