Fujitsu has faced sharp criticism from a group of MPs for failing to contribute financially to the nearly £1.5 billion redress bill for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Parliamentarians are also demanding urgent action to quash convictions predating the notorious Horizon system.
The Business and Trade Committee (BTC), tasked with scrutinising government departments, identified “serious structural failings” within the compensation process.
This comes despite over 11,500 claimants having received approximately £1.48 billion by 27 February, through various schemes established to compensate postmasters affected by the faulty Horizon software.
The overall cost of redress is projected to reach around £2 billion, once legal and administrative expenses, alongside payments for the earlier Capture system, are factored in.
The Horizon accounting system, developed by Japanese firm Fujitsu, made it look like money was missing from branch accounts.
This system lies at the heart of the protracted Post Office scandal, which saw an estimated 1,000 people across the UK wrongly prosecuted and convicted between 1999 and 2015.
The BTC said progress had been made in delivering redress to victims, but that thousands of sub-postmasters were still waiting for compensation.
Many victims still face delays, inadequate offers, and administrative processes that “retraumatise” those who have already faced injustice, according to its report.
MP Liam Byrne, chairman of the BTC, said: “Thousands of victims are still waiting for fair redress, while the processes designed to help them are too often slow, bureaucratic and retraumatising.
“That is simply unacceptable after one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history.
“Worse, Fujitsu has yet to contribute a penny to the nearly £2 billion redress bill, even as it continues to benefit from public contracts.
“That cannot continue.
“It is simply wrong that taxpayers are covering the costs for Fujitsu’s sins while Fujitsu is still profiting from taxpayers-funded contracts.”
The BTC said that Fujitsu had acknowledged it had a “moral obligation” to contribute to the cost of redress, and stated its commitment to do so, but that it has made no interim payment nor agreed to any figure.
Fujitsu continues to supply its IT system to the Post Office and also to Government departments through a number of contracts.
A spokeswoman for Fujitsu said: “We continue to work with UK Government to ensure we adhere to the voluntary restrictions we put in place regarding bidding for new contracts while the Post Office Inquiry is ongoing, and are engaged with Government regarding Fujitsu’s contribution to compensation.”
Mr Byrne said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday that ministers should be tougher with Fujitsu and “demand an interim payment now”.
Of the company, he said: “They’re trying to get away with it, that’s what they’re trying to do. They are being allowed to get away with it.”
Mr Byrne also suggested that the Government tried to hide the fact it had given half a billion pounds’ worth of contracts to Fujitsu after the Post Office scandal.
He admitted that some contracts, such as with the Ministry of Defence, were “critical state services” but stressed that it was “simply not right that a company like Fujitsu has contributed nothing” to the redress bill.
Meanwhile, Mr Byrne said the committee was “concerned to hear new evidence that suggests unsafe convictions linked to earlier systems such as Capture may be only the tip of another iceberg”.
He said: “Parliament must act quickly to quash these convictions and ensure that every victim finally gets the justice they deserve.”
A compensation scheme for sub-postmasters who were forced to repay shortfalls from the faulty accounting system Capture was launched last year.
A spokeswoman for the Post Office said it would review the committee’s recommendation and continue to work closely with the Government.
She said: “We welcome the scrutiny of the committee and its commitment to ensuring full, fair and timely redress is paid to those harmed during the Horizon scandal.
“Progress has been made with 87% of eligible Horizon Shortfall Scheme applications having received an offer and £882 million paid through the scheme.
“We are processing applications as quickly as possible to bring resolution to those who have applied.”
A spokeswoman for the Government said: “We must never lose sight of the Horizon scandal’s human impact on postmasters and their families.
“The amount we’ve paid out has increased more than sixfold as part of our ongoing commitment to deliver justice to victims as swiftly as possible.
“We welcome today’s report and agree that it is crucial that Fujitsu meets its moral obligation to contribute to the total costs of the scandal, and will publish our response to its recommendations shortly.”
