Fujitsu joins UK framework despite public sector bid pause
Fujitsu is on a £14.9 billion UK procurement framework while it says its pause on new government customer bids still applies.
By Dominic Okoye · Staff Writer
· 3 min read
Fujitsu has been added to a Fujitsu UK framework agreement worth up to £14.9 billion including tax, despite the supplier’s stated pause on bidding for new public sector customers while the Post Office Horizon inquiry continues. The company says the move is consistent with that pause because the framework can be used for work with existing government customers.
The Japanese technology services group is now listed on Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7, a UK government procurement vehicle that was amended this week. The Register reported that Fujitsu was not listed when the contract details were first published in February.
The framework is managed by the Government Commercial Agency, the Cabinet Office body that replaced the Crown Commercial Service. GCA takes a 1 percent levy on sales made through the agreement.
A framework is not the same as a contract award. It gives public bodies a route to buy from pre-approved suppliers under set terms, but a place on the list does not guarantee revenue. The Fujitsu listing therefore creates eligibility, while the amount Fujitsu may earn through the framework has not been stated.
Why is Fujitsu on the UK framework if it paused public sector bids?
Fujitsu’s position is that its voluntary restriction applies to bids for work with new government customers, rather than all public sector work. A company spokesperson said inclusion on Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 lets Fujitsu bid for work from existing customers and that the company is working with the UK government to comply with the restrictions it put in place while the Post Office Inquiry is ongoing.
Fujitsu wrote to the government’s commercial arm in January and February 2024 to say it would not bid for contracts with new government customers until the inquiry reports. In a February 6, 2024 letter to the Cabinet Office, Dave Riley, Fujitsu’s head of UK public sector, said there was no limitation or caveat on the intention to pause bidding for new government customer work until the inquiry had reported, adding that Fujitsu would bid for such work only if asked.
The Cabinet Office said suppliers are awarded places on commercial agreements under relevant procurement rules. A Cabinet Office spokesperson told The Register that it is monitoring Fujitsu’s compliance with its bidding limits and regularly reviews the company’s performance across government contracts.
What is Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7?
Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7 covers four lots: digital, data and technology services; outcome-based digital projects; support for long-term digital transformation delivery; and individual digital specialists. It is available across central government and the wider public sector, including councils, police bodies and health services.
The listing matters because Fujitsu remains a major government technology supplier while it is under scrutiny for Horizon, the Post Office system first implemented in the 1990s by ICL, then majority-owned by Fujitsu and later fully acquired in 1998. Horizon has since been upgraded twice.
Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 700 subpostmasters in cases where Horizon evidence may have been used, and nearly 300 more cases were brought by other bodies. Hundreds of people were wrongly convicted. A statutory inquiry opened in 2021 and is still running; its early findings suggest 13 suicides may be linked to the prosecutions.
Fujitsu has also recently secured places on two other UK public sector frameworks: Technology Services 4, valued at up to £19.08 billion including tax, and Transport Technology, valued at about £2.3 billion including tax. Those placements, like Digital Outcomes and Specialists 7, set up routes to future buying rather than disclosed Fujitsu revenue.
This story draws on original reporting from The Register.
