Post Office Capture and Horizon Scandals

Lord Magan of Castletown Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stockwood (Lab)]

Again, I thank the noble Lord for his work overall on the Horizon and Capture scandals. While, again, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on a specific case, I can say that the Post Office was the original prosecutor in the criminal case on this specific Capture conviction—not this department, obviously. Therefore, the Post Office has responsibility for responding, and for conducting the case and the appeal. Again, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the ongoing case.

[Lord Magan of Castletown (Con)]

My Lords, I ask the Minister whether Fujitsu has yet paid a single penny to the sufferers in this terrible saga. If it has not, why not? Secondly, has Fujitsu been awarded further government contracts since that time, and if so, why? This is a national scandal that has lasted far too long. The noble Lord, Lord Beamish, and my noble friend Lord Arbuthnot are the two people who have really tried to find justice for these very unfortunate people who have suffered, as we heard in the introductory remarks.

[Lord Stockwood (Lab)]

I share and acknowledge the noble Lord’s passion for the subject. Accountability for Fujitsu will be rooted in evidence and due process. Wyn Williams’ inquiry is the proper mechanism for establishing what went wrong and who is responsible, and for the financial commitment. Fujitsu has acknowledged a moral responsibility to contribute to the costs of that redress, and Minister McDougall met with the European CEO in December last year and, in the recent Select Committee, the CEO confirmed the commitment to follow that moral responsibility with financial responsibility.

To the secondary question about government contracts, Fujitsu rightly said that it will not be applying for new government contracts unless the Government ask it to, where those services are necessary. In researching this question, I imagined this would come up: the Government have 68 live contracts with Fujitsu in some critical services, which include HMRC’s self-assessment tool and the Home Office’s border control systems. Walking away from these contracts instantly would do serious damage to important public services, so this is not a viable option. However, it has committed to the new software for the Post Office being completed in the middle of next year. If we were to stop that software service today, all postmasters would have to close. That is not pragmatic, unfortunately.