Post Office and Fujitsu Had 2006 Deal Allowing Fixes to Horizon Errors
A confidential 26-page contract from 2006 between the Post Office and Fujitsu revealed that both parties had the authority to authorise changes to branch accounts in order to fix errors in the Horizon IT system.
The agreement, marked 'Commercial in Confidence', included a clause holding Fujitsu liable to pay between £100 and £150 for each faulty Horizon transaction.
This document challenges previous Post Office assertions that they were unaware of bugs in the system which caused accounting shortfalls.
The faulty Horizon data led to over 900 convictions linked to the scandal.
According to the contract, any reconciliation service must obtain Post Office authorization before amending centrally held data when discrepancies are discovered.
The document was obtained from the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry website.
The Post Office has issued an apology for the harm caused by the scandal and stated it is cooperating with the ongoing public inquiry, offering redress and restorative justice to those affected.
Fujitsu has declined to comment while the inquiry continues and confirmed the matter is under forensic investigation.
