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post office has extended its deal to use scandal-hit Horizon IT software until at least 2027.
However, the postal giant said it plans to agree a deal with a new supplier next year as part of its commitments to move away from Horizon technology.
accounting system, operated by Japani The firm Fujitsu is at the center of the long-running Post Office scandal, in which almost 1,000 people were wrongly prosecuted and convicted across Britain between 1999 and 2015.
Fujitsu’s faulty accounting system made it appear that money was missing from post office branches operated by sub-postmasters.
Some victims were sent to prison or left financially ruined, others were isolated from their community, and some took their own lives.
Despite the major scandal, the post office has continued to use different versions of the software, which was highlighted in itv Drama last year.
On Monday, the Post Office confirmed it had extended its latest contract to use the software.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “The Post Office has agreed a one-year bridging extension to the Horizon contract with Fujitsu for the period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
“We are committed to moving away from Fujitsu and out of the Horizon system as quickly as possible.
“We are bringing in a different supplier to take over Horizon until a new system is developed, and that process is well underway.
“We expect to award the contract to a new supplier to manage Horizon by July 2026, in line with the current timeline.”
In recent years, the Post Office has invested in efforts to secure a new system, including a project called NBIT, where it attempted to design a new in-house alternative.
However, the project was abandoned amid plans for a major makeover amid concerns over its cost.