heart of the issue” and that the government was considering all options for reform, including the possibility of transferring ownership to sub-postmasters. This comes in the wake of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, where hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted due to errors in the system. The inquiry into the scandal has revealed concerns about the reliability of the Horizon system, with Fujitsu Europe’s boss admitting that bugs, errors, and defects have been present. The contract for the Horizon system is up for renewal, but there are worries about its reliability and potential consequences if extended. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch also gave evidence, acknowledging the government’s slow response to compensating sub-postmasters and the need for urgency in addressing the issue. Badenoch’s actions, including the dismissal of former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton, have come under scrutiny, with allegations of bullying and misconduct. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has suggested that ownership of the Post Office could be transferred to sub-postmasters in the future, as part of broader reform efforts to address the underlying issues within the organization. Bu içerikte, içerik açıklaması oluşturulması gereken bir konu hakkında bilgi verilmektedir. İçerik açıklaması, içeriğin ana konusunu özetleyen ve okuyuculara içeriğin ne hakkında olduğunu kısaca anlatan bir metindir. İçerik açıklaması, okuyucuların içeriği daha iyi anlamalarına ve içeriği okumaya karar vermelerine yardımcı olur. Bu içeriğin içerik açıklaması oluşturulurken, içeriğin ana fikri ve önemli detayları vurgulanmalı ve okuyucuların ilgisini çekecek şekilde özgün bir şekilde yazılmalıdır.
#Fujitsu #boss #Horizon #reliable
Kaynak: www.bbc.com
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Fujitsu Europe’s boss has admitted he “does not know” if the Post Office Horizon IT system at the heart of hundreds of sub-postmasters’ wrongful convictions is reliable.
Paul Patterson told the inquiry into scandal there have been “have been bugs errors and defects” in the accountancy system and it is clear “that there is a level of unreliability” in Horizon.
He agreed that this would be an issue for sub-postmasters currently using Horizon.
In his second appearance in front of the inquiry, Mr Patterson also admitted that he did not know whether Fujitsu had done an independent report into the software system.
Though he added that he would welcome a third-party investigation.
Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly prosecuted after Horizon made it look like money was missing from their branches.
Fujitsu’s Horizon contract is up for renewal early next year and could be extended for a further five years.
Patterson said he was “very worried” about what might happen if the contract is extended because of how unreliable Horizon is.
“In my experience… if you don’t keep [IT systems] upgraded, I cannot determine what will or will not happen, which is part of my nervousness of it being extended,” he said.
Monday marked the start of the final week of evidence at the inquiry, more than two and a half years since it started hearing evidence in public.
Earlier in the day, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch gave evidence – as the former business secretary, the government-owned Post Office came under her remit.
Mr Bates v The Post Office
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She said that the airing of the TV drama into the Post Office scandal “brought the urgency” to speed up compensation pay outs for sub-postmasters.
The government needed to be “seen to be doing the right thing”, said Badenoch.
She accepted at the inquiry into the scandal that it was “extremely disappointing” that it took the ITV drama to escalate the issue.
But she said her row with the Treasury over the time it was taking to issue compensation last August was not just a case of her “posturing”.
Badenoch said the four-part ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which was broadcast in January, raised awareness of the issue, turning compensation from “a value for money perception to a public perception question”.
She insisted work was being done on the issue by the previous government, but admitted it was “too slow” and criticised the whole “government machine” for slowing down compensation.
The inquiry heard how Badenoch told the Treasury she wanted to give £100,000 “flat offers” to all sub-postmasters with a claim, with the inquiry to the counsel Jason Beer KC describing her mention of “ministerial direction” as a threat.
He said this could be seen as “soft power” or “posturing”.
But Badenoch denied the claim, saying: “It was signalling the direction I wanted the department to take to make it very clear.”
She said she believed speed should triumph over accuracy, and admitted that this might not have represented value for money from a taxpayer point of view.
She said she was not aware of how serious concerns were about him because of “vanilla updates” from civil servants.
Her evidence statement provided her reasons for Mr Staunton’s dismissal, which included the former chairman attempting to shut down a whistleblowing probe into his conduct, behaving in an aggressive, intimidating and disrespectful manner, and having a poor understanding of Post Office’s work.
Mr Staunton has previously defended himself after a report found he used derogatory language during a meeting about recruiting a board member. He has also refuted Badenoch’s claim that he was under a “formal investigation” for “serious matters such as bullying”.
‘Nothing should be off the table’
Earlier on Monday, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said ownership of the Post Office could be handed over to its thousands of sub-postmasters across the UK.
“Nothing should be off the table for the future of the Post Office,” he said, adding that the organisation’s future will be set out in the first half of next year.
He said Post Office’s corporate culture was “at the root of this scandal” and that some sub-postmasters had “lost all faith in the justice system” because of it.
Fujitsu boss ‘does not know’ if Horizon is reliable
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