Fujitsu joins £14.9B UK framework despite public sector bid freeze

Fujitsu claims its addition to a UK government framework worth up to 14.9 billion, including tax, is consistent with its policy of freezing bids for new public sector work in the wake of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal. The Japanese tech services supplier has been named on the Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 framework, which was amended this week. The Register understands Fujitsu's name was absent when the details of the contract were first published in February. Horizon is an EPOS and back-end finance system that was first implemented in the 1990s by ICL, a UK tech firm majority-owned by Fujitsu at the time and fully acquired in 1998. It has since undergone two upgrades. Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 700 subpostmasters in cases in which Horizon evidence may have featured, while almost 300 more cases were brought by other bodies. Hundreds were wrongfully convicted, devastating lives in the process. A statutory inquiry into the scandal launched in 2021 and remains ongoing Its early findings suggest 13 suicides may be linked to the prosecutions. Frameworks are procurement vehicles that let public bodies buy from pre-approved suppliers under agreed terms, although a place on one does not guarantee any work. The Government Commercial Agency (GCA) - which replaced the Crown Commercial Service - is the Cabinet Office agency that manages the framework and receives a 1 percent levy on sales made through it. The Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 agreement is split into four lots: digital, data, and technology services; outcome-based digital projects; support for long-term digital transformation delivery; and individual digital specialists. It is available to government departments and the wider public sector, including local authorities, police, and health services. In January and February 2024, Fujitsu wrote to the government's commercial arm, committing not to bid for contracts with new government customers until the Horizon inquiry reports. In a letter to the Cabinet Office dated February 6, 2024, Dave Riley, Fujitsu's head of UK public sector, confirmed: "There is no limitation or caveat on our intention to pause bidding for work with new government customers until the inquiry has reported... We would only bid for work with a new government customer if asked to do so." A Fujitsu spokesperson said the company's inclusion on the supplier list for Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 allows it to bid for work from existing customers, in line with its voluntary pause, which only applies to "new government customers." "We continue to work with the UK Government to ensure we adhere to the restrictions we put in place regarding new contracts while the Post Office Inquiry is ongoing," the spokesperson said. A spokesperson at the Cabinet Office told The Register: "We follow all relevant procurement regulations when awarding suppliers onto our commercial agreements. "We are monitoring Fujitsu's compliance with their bidding constraints and carry out regular reviews of Fujitsu's performance across Government contracts." Fujitsu has won places on two other frameworks in recent months, including Technology Services 4, worth up to 19.08 billion, and Transport Technology, worth around 2.3 billion. Both figures include tax. (R)