Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the recent report in Computer Weekly on the extension of the Post Office Horizon contact with Fujitsu, whether representatives of the Government, in their roles as members of the Post Office Ltd (POL) Board or other POL committees or otherwise, were (a) in attendance at meetings with Fujitsu and (b) involved in the decision to extend the contract with that company to 2024.

Post Office Limited has extended its current contract with Fujitsu for a short period to allow sufficient time to develop its long-term IT strategy, including the approach to any IT system that it will use in the long-term. This was considered the appropriate commercial decision by Post Office Limited. Government representatives were not present at Post Office Limited’s meetings with Fujitsu to discuss the extension. The Government representative on the POL Board – UKGI’s Shareholder Non-Executive Director – was involved in the collective Board decision to extend the contract at the March 2021 Board meeting.