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

Summary

public sector Fujitsu joins £14.9B UK framework despite public sector bid freeze Supplier says the Horizon-era pause only stops it chasing work from new government customers 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...