THE BOSS of Fujitsu has finally told MPs that his firm has a “moral duty” to pay out compensation amid the Post Office Horizon scandal – in a major win for taxpayers.
The firm’s European boss Paul Patterson was hauled before a Commons’ select committee revealing they would pay their share of pay-outs.
Alan Bates gave evidence to the committee today calling for compensation process to be speeded upRex
The revelation came as ex-Post Officer worker Alan Bates demanded the government cut the red tape to get money out the door to those affected.
Mr Patterson said: “There is a moral obligation for the company to contribute.” He added that “it’s also important that the inquiry deals with these very complex matters.
He added that “in that context, absolutely we have a part to play and to contribute to the redress, I think is the words that Mr Bates used, the redress fund for the sub-postmasters”.
He was giving evidence on the Business and Trade Committee where he also said sorry for their part in the miscarriages of justice.
He said: “Fujitsu would like to apologise for our part in this appalling miscarriage of justice. We were involved from the very start. We did have bugs and errors in the system.
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“We did help the Post Office in their prosecutions of the sub-postmasters. For that, we are truly sorry.
He said that evidence from the company was helped to prosecute innocent Post Office workers. He said: “Yes, there was evidence from us.
“We were supporting the Post Office in their prosecutions. There was data given from us to them to support those prosecutions.
“The information shared with the Post Office as part of our contract with them was very clear – the Post Office also knew there were bugs and errors.”
He also admitted there was remote access to the system despite denials from the Post Office.
He said: “The support and the interventions remotely from Fujitsu has been documented and it is clear the Post Office was certainly aware of that remote access, and that was clear for some period of time.”
But he couldn’t answer why the firm didn’t take action despite knowing there were glitches in the Horizon system.
He said: “I don’t know. I really don’t know. On a personal level I wish I did know. Following my appointment in 2019 I’ve looked back at those situations for the company and the evidence I’ve seen, and I just don’t know.
“What I do know is the inquiry is looking at this very point of who knew what and when, and the action they did or did not take to draw attention to the concerns. I just don’t know.”
Meanwhile, Alan Bates – who was at the centre of the recent ITV drama on the scandal – revealed his frustration at red tape holding up compensation pay-outs saying it was being “bogged down”.
Drawing on his own experience, he said: “I think it was 53 days before they asked three very simple questions. It’s madness, the whole thing is madness.
“And there’s no transparency behind it, which is even more frustrating. We do not know what’s happening to these cases once they disappear in there.”
Jo Hamilton, a former subpostmistress, who was wrongly convicted, said it was “almost like you’re being retried … it just goes on and on and on”.
The committee also heard that a further 200 postmasters had come forward since the ITV drama was aired.
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