Key Summary
- Ministers demand Fujitsu to pay victims, “not one penny” paid yet.
- Fujitsu knew of faults before Horizon’s 1999 rollout, inquiry finds.
- Fujitsu must help deliver justice plan by October deadlines.
In the wake of Sir Wyn Williams’s July 8 release of Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, the pressure is piling on Japanese tech firm Fujitsu to take accountability and contribute in compensation as well as in justice.
Government ministers are urging Fujitsu to begin immediate interim payouts to the roughly 10,000 victims currently awaiting redress after critics pointed out that the Japanese tech giant had "paid not one penny" for the "havoc and misery that it helped to cause".
Sir Wyn’s report also requires Fujitsu, as well as the Post Office and government, to submit written responses to all 19 recommendations by October 10, 2025.
Sir Wyn's report found around 1,000 people were wrongly prosecuted and convicted after Fujitsu's defective Horizon accounting system made it appear as though money was missing at their Post Office branches. Some victims were sent to prison or financially ruined, others were shunned by their communities, and some took their own lives.
It is mentioned in the Sir William's first report that Fujitsu employees were aware, even before rollout in 1999, that the system could produce false data. Horizon Online (2010) and its successor HNG-A (2017)—also Fujitsu-built—continued to be plagued by defects.
The inquiry finds that Horizon, designed and maintained by Fujitsu, produced persistent bugs and phantom shortfalls, yet both the Post Office and Fujitsu continued relying on its data to prosecute sub-postmasters.
The firm is expected to collaborate in crafting a restorative justice programme, including apologies, memorials, and support services and publicly outline its role in the initiative by October 31, 2025.
The Chair highlights that Fujitsu has not adequately acknowledged or redressed its role, and further examination will follow in future volumes.
Critics argued Fujitsu "should be nowhere near" new Government contracts as it emerged the company continued to secure lucrative multimillion-pound deals with Whitehall, bankrolled by taxpayers.
Sir Wyn said around 10,000 people are eligible to submit compensation claims following what has been dubbed as the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
The firm has already acknowledged it has a "moral obligation" to contribute to compensation, pending the outcome of the public inquiry.
A spokesperson from Fujitsu Services Ltd said on Tuesday (July 8), “We welcome the publication of the first volume of the Inquiry’s report and are considering its recommendations.
"We have apologised for, and deeply regret, our role in sub-postmasters’ suffering, and we wish to reiterate that apology today. We hope for a swift resolution that ensures a just outcome for the victims.
"We remain committed to providing our full cooperation to the Inquiry as Sir Wyn prepares his final report and we are engaged with Government regarding Fujitsu’s contribution to compensation.”