The Environment Agency has defended its decision to continue its flood alert warning contract worth £19.5M to tarnished Japanese software company Fujitsu, despite its involvement in the Horizon Post Office scandal.
The Japanese IT giant is the subject of an inquiry to assess its part in the Horizon software scandal, which led to the prosecution of hundreds of Post Office staff, accused of stealing after the software showed shortfalls in their branches' accounts. More than 900 sub postmasters were prosecuted for financial crimes between 1999 and 2015.
In 2019, the High Court case showed that Fujitsu’s Horizon system contained errors that could have caused unexplained losses. Despite this, many of the sub postmasters affected by the scandal are yet to be recompensed.
The recent airing of ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has led to public outcry and placed the Horizon story firmly back in the headlines. Prime minister Rishi Sunak described it as “an appalling miscarriage of justice”. The government has also indicated that postmasters involved could have their names cleared under a new scheme.
The Met Police is currently investigating two former Fujitsu experts who were witnesses in trials of Post Office managers.
Despite this, in December 2023, the Environment Agency awarded Fujitsu a £2M contract extension to run the flood warning system after apparent delays to finding a replacement supplier.
The contract was first awarded in January 2022 at £17.5M. A procurement notice was published on 29 December last year outlining the framework agreement for The Future Flood Warnings system.
Flood forecasting systems provide vital early flood warning information to national and international civil protection authorities and flood alleviation specialists including engineers, who use the information to make decisions on how to prepare for upcoming floods. The Fujitsu system works by recording readings from river sensors into computer models, which then raise potential alerts that are assessed by workers to see if these are realistic.
However, in April 2023, The Guardian reported that the flood warning had proven inaccurate during pilots undertaken since the preceding December. Members of the public reported receiving warnings of floods that never materialised and warnings that came too late, after their homes and businesses were flooded, The Guardian said.
Commenting on the extension of the Fujitsu contract, an Environment Agency spokesperson told NCE: “All Environment Agency contracts are subject to strict government procurement regulations before being awarded. We have recently extended the Fujitsu contract for a short period of time to ensure our vital flood warning system remained in place while we appoint a longer-term supplier, which is expected to be confirmed shortly.”
The spokesperson added that automated alerts proved “a critical contingency tool during Storm Babet protecting people and properties from flooding, and expert Environment Agency Flood Warning Officers set the river or tidal levels that trigger them”.
The spokesperson continued: “Automated flood alerts do not compromise the flood warnings being issued - and our operational work, which includes putting flood barriers in place and closing gates, continues to take place. We have also put in place call back mechanisms for significant incidents where there is threat to life.”
The government agency said it would “shortly” conclude a procurement for the successor arrangements for the Future Flood Warnings System framework agreement.
A spokesperson for Fujitsu told NCE the company would not respond to specific questions about the flood warning alert contract. On the Horizon software investigation, the company has issued the following statement:
“The current Post Office Horizon IT statutory Inquiry is examining complex events stretching back over 20 years to understand who knew what, when, and what they did with that knowledge. The Inquiry has reinforced the devastating impact on postmasters' lives and that of their families, and Fujitsu has apologised for its role in their suffering. Fujitsu is fully committed to supporting the Inquiry in order to understand what happened and to learn from it. Out of respect for the Inquiry process, it would be inappropriate for Fujitsu to comment further at this time.”
Fujitsu was removed from the British government’s list of preferred suppliers in 2022, however, it continued to win government contracts through the regular procurement process. The company was awarded public contracts worth approximately £6.7bn over the past decade, according to Tussell, a consultancy specialising in insights on government spending and contracts. Fujitsu’s major government customers include the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office and HMRC.
Read here. https://www.