Fujitsu will be held accountable over Post Office scandal, says government

Fujitsu will be "held accountable" if it is found to have blundered in the Post Office scandal, the government has said.

Over 700 Post Office branch managers were prosecuted after faulty software made it look like money was missing.

So far, the spotlight has been on the Post Office and politicians' actions. But attention is now turning to Fujitsu, the firm behind the software.

Fujitsu said it was sorry for its role in sub-postmasters' suffering.

Calls are growing for the Japanese firm to explain its role and to pay compensation to victims.

Questions are also being asked over why the firm has continued to win government contracts, despite the cloud of the Post Office scandal hanging over it.

Fujitsu executives have been asked to appear before MPs at a parliamentary committee hearing next week, and will also face questioning at the independent public inquiry looking into the matter, as pressure mounts on those involved in what is considered the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.

The prime minister's spokesman said: "Once the inquiry is able to establish the facts and sets them out, those who are found responsible will be held to account, whether that is legally or financially."

The outcome of the inquiry could also influence any current and future contracts Fujitsu has with the UK government, the spokesman said.

Fujitsu said it was fully committed to supporting the inquiry to learn from the events stretching back two decades.

"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," the firm said.

The inquiry has been under way since 2021 but hit the headlines after ITV aired a dramatisation of the events