Post Office renews Fujitsu deal; Scandal's oldest victim slams 'paltry' compensation

Post Office has signed a one-year contract extension with Japanese tech giant Fujitsu to run Horizon until March 2026, dumping its replacement after setbacks caused costs to skyrocket to as much as £2 billion.

The in-house New Branch IT system (NBIT) was supposed to be finished by March 2024 at an initial cost of £200m over three years. However, difficulties in its development led to expensive delays.

According to recent reports, staff has been told that the government has refused to fund the system’s £1million-a-week running costs.

Meanwhile, oldest victim of Post Office Horizon has slammed the government, stating that she has been offered less than a third of what she had claimed in compensation.

Brown’s lawyers, with the help of forensic accountants, spent nearly three years preparing her claim for compensation. When her offer came through, it was for 29 per cent of what she had claimed

“We’re just treated like dung,” Brown told the BBC. “I’m totally disgusted. It simply adds insult to injury. You talk about the Christmas and goodwill. Where’s the goodwill towards the sub-postmasters here."

She said with the help of her government-paid advisors, multiple reports were prepared to back up her detailed claim. More information was then requested by lawyers acting on behalf of the government which oversees the GLO scheme.

In her compensation offer letter, she wasn’t awarded anything for loss of future earnings and was offered only a third of the amount she claimed for past loss of earnings. She was also not awarded the full amount she claimed for harassment, even though the Department for Business and Trade acknowledged she had suffered harassment linked to issues with Horizon.

Rejecting the offer, Brown has declared that she will take her case to an independent panel for assessment.

91-year-old former sub-postmistress Betty Brown and her husband spent more than £50,000 of their savings to cover the unexpected losses which started as soon as the Horizon computer system was installed in her branch. She was hounded out of her job and forced to sell her post office at a knockdown price in 2003.

Brown was one of the original 555 victims who took part in the landmark group legal action led by Alan Bates against the Post Office. They won their battle five years ago this month but never received proper compensation because the money they received was largely swallowed up by the huge costs to fund their case.