The Post Office’s ambitious initiative to replace the contentious Horizon system has been described as “set up to fail” and is in urgent need of a reassessment, according to its chairman during the public inquiry.
Nigel Railton testified at the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry that in 2021, at the outset of the New Branch IT (NBIT) project, two critical decisions were made that turned out to be “fundamentally wrong in hindsight.” He noted, “One was the choice to ‘get off Horizon,’ which is distinct from developing a future-proof system, and the other was to create the system in-house.”
Railton further emphasized that there are numerous “horror stories” regarding in-house system development, asserting, “I believe this project was destined to fail from the beginning.” NBIT was initiated to replace the Horizon system from Fujitsu, which has been linked to a scandal that devastated subpostmasters and led to wrongful convictions for crimes they didn’t commit.
He highlighted the project’s excessive dependence on external partners. During the inquiry, Railton was presented with internal documents revealing concerns about this reliance, which could hinder internal teams from managing the transition to the new system. The documents also cautioned about the steep costs associated with third-party dependence, likening it to the NHS’s reliance on locum staff. “I think we are too reliant on Accenture,” he said, adding that the organization is exploring alternative approaches.
Railton mentioned that approximately 80% of the personnel involved in the Post Office New Branch IT project are contractors. “Having only contractors on such projects creates a transient workforce, leading to a loss of knowledge and skills. Moreover, contractors tend to be costly, which is why we need to overhaul the entire program.”
Computer Weekly reported in May that a review by government project management experts at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) deemed the project as “currently unachievable,” with costs skyrocketing from £180 million to £1.1 billion and implementations being delayed by up to five years.
Internally, the Post Office announced last week that it is reevaluating its strategy for the Horizon replacement and plans to increase engagement with government and external experts. Acting CEO Neil Brocklehurst informed staff, “We will proceed with the deployment of new technology across branches in the next 12 months.”
Railton expressed optimism that the project would be completed by 2028 without exceeding the current projected cost of £1.1 billion. He also mentioned hopes for constructive negotiations with Fujitsu regarding a contract extension and anticipated confirming details in the coming weeks. In May, it was reported that complications with NBIT could result in Fujitsu receiving an additional £180 million from taxpayers to support the system for an extended five years.
During the hearing, Railton announced that the Post Office had received about 100 applications for the recently advertised IT-savvy non-executive director position.
The Post Office scandal, first uncovered by Computer Weekly in 2009, exposed the experiences of seven subpostmasters who faced grave issues due to the Horizon accounting software, leading to one of the largest miscarriages of justice in British history.
• Also read: What you need to know about the Horizon scandal •
• Also watch: ITV’s documentary – Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The real story •
• Also read: Post Office and Fujitsu’s malevolence and incompetence lead to enormous taxpayer costs •