Why Paid £ 600m to prevent the post office from the wrong horizon system

Although the post office decides to give BBC more than ten years, the error has paid more than £ 600 million to use the wrong horizontal IT system.

In the original 1999, the transaction conditions with a computer giant Fujitsu, the post office is stuck with the system and so far it is unable to replace it so far.

Former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair and other great labor government were warned about the terms of the signing of the government, BBC.

The post office said, “He did not apologize for the victims of victims on the horizon,” he said, “Fujitsu and Horizon said.

Under the terms of the original 548 million pounds, under the pressure of the next labor government, the post office did not have a computer code for the main part of the horizon system.

Although the post office has wants to cross suppliers since 2012, set up a completely new system from Fujitsu or zero, even if the amounts paid to Fujitsu are caught and raised.

Since the owner of the code is not the owner, the post office could not check part of the program that processes operations and has to trust Fujitsu correctly.

The government’s post office, about 700 submasters between 1999 and 2015, based on these agencies, fraud and counterfeit, fraud and fake, for fake, fraud and fake accounting for about 700 sub-postmaster. Last year, prisoners were abolished by the parliament.

At the beginning of this year, the Minister of Case Baroness Jones, Whitchunch Jones, the post office “unfortunately depends on the horizon system,” Fujitsu means “outside the picture” means to close all the local post offices.

An attempt to replace the system with one of the IBM, in 2016, reached £ 40 million and post office contract Four years with Fujitsu to £ 107 million.

Post Office said that the BBC is finally related to the rights In 2023, it is not known whether the Horizon program and code, but it does not include the main system that processes operations.

The price of £ 10 million for the license was “cheap – because who else would it buy?” IT Specialist Jason Coyne, One of the first people identifying imperfections in the system.

BBC understands that the post office can try to use this license to change the horizon. However, although this is built, IT experts, Fujitsu and the post office will be extended outside the March 2026 – it will end.

Those who have a Horizon program, began to contract the network of branches branches – then negotiating between the 18,000, post office, Fujitsu and his subsidiary and the government.

In May 1999, Sir Tony Blair received an update from the Treasury, and warned the “structure” bargaining conditions in the document.

One of the sticky points was around the intellectual property rights (IPR) – Horizon program included code property.

The document says that ICL is not ready … Give eternal licenses for all IPR “.

It continues to say that the post office would want to change the suppliers, the owner of the IPR would be strongly in order to resolve the post office. “

The BBC also received a document from May 20, the same year, the same year, Gordon Brown and other government officials, who warned about the owner of the code, were sent to the Chancellor.

This was a treasury official, “One of the main problems” with the transfer conditions offered by ICL for the “major problems” horizon program this “Environmental environmental environmental assets and the environment of the IPR.

IT Specialist Mr. Coyne said the deal was “completely madness” because this was the right to use the system without Fujitsu, “It did not work on the” operator “” does not work. “

One spokesman for Sir Tony Blair did not solve the questions around the BBC’s knowledge of IPR, but then he took very seriously about the Horizon agreement. “

“The final decision after the investigation of an independent panel, it recommended that the apostate was favorable.

“It is already clear that the horizon product has deep sympathy to all those affected by the tragic and completely unacceptable results.”

A spokesman for Gordon Brown said, “It would not be a memorial” since May 20, 1999, and he would be copied as “formalities.”

“The acquisition of the Horizon agreement did not participate in any work on the award or management.”

IPR PROPERTIES WARNINGS, for more than a decade to invite other companies of the post office to capture the horizon agreement, there are more than a decade.

Former executors examined the post office inquiry, who examined the illegal confidence of hundreds of sub-postmaster, how much he complicated the company’s fujitsu.

Former Chief Financial Officer Alisdair Cameron, Fujitsu said in the post office “Difficult colleagues” and “It was accepted to be sensitive to this horizon and built infrastructure.”

However, Mike Young, Mace October and April 2012, the head of the General Director of the post office, the leadership of Fujitsu said: “Therefore, you have a service for your payment, but you do not pay the code.”

Post Office Query Show “IPR Issue” was often discussed at the top level Post office executives.

“There is a risk that we cannot adopt a IP license with Fujitsu on reasonable conditions,” July 2013 said the agenda for the meeting of a postal department – other documents describe the cost of expenditure.

Procurement Specialist Ian Makgill said he believed that IPR did not have the horizon, the 2016 IBM deal will be a factor in the transaction deal in the Deal.

He said that if IBM attempted to make any program from above IPR, he would like to “cost a hundred million to start from scratch.”

“IPR is the reason for the failure to go away from the post office Fujitsu and the horizontal program,” he said.

Since 1999, the post office spent £ 25 billion in contracts with Fujitsu. This figure, according to the analysis of the post office of TUSSELL and BBC, was spent more than £ 600 million to continue the bridge agreement as the post office began to seek new suppliers in 2012.

Most of the wrong accused sub-postmasters by the post office provided no missing money and lack of shortages up to errors in the horizon system.

But it is impossible to check directly to the processing system with the post office, is invalid from the fujitsu, where the system works properly.

“Fujitsu fought against all the time to protect investment and their intellectual property rather than touching the interests of sub postmapers,” Mr Makgill said.

Fujitsu did not answer the BBC’s special questions, but said that this was “aimed at supporting the post office in plans for a new service model.”

Mr Makgill said the post office was “last responsibility” on the fate of the wrong accused sub-postmaster.

“They did not have to take these persecution, they did not have to take people to court.”

Sub-postmasters currently continues to report on its problems using Horizon. Seven seven in 10, said they had experienced an “unexplored discrepancy” in the system since January 2020 Yougov survey In 2024, the post office request was put into operation by 1115 respondents.

The post office has not been responsible for the Horizon since 2015, and said, “There is no intention to do so.”

This said the BBC was “the implementation of changes in the whole organization”, so it is “in line with the future, and in the heart and postmasters in your heart.”

This is to properly repair Fujitsu and to review the current version of Horizo ​​and replace it in the stages, along with a five-year-old plan called “Future Technology Portfolio.”

Chairman of the post office Nigel Railton said that a new IT system will not be applied in a “big explosion”, but there would be changes.

The post office did not respond to BBC specificity The company said the questions about IPR to prevent Fujitsu could not ditch To comment before the final report of the post office request.

The UN Department of Commerce has provided $ 136 million to the BBC in the next five years, and the post office works in PACE to ensure the change of the post office, including the horizon system.