Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the three entries totalling £189,870 for Fujitsu Services Ltd under the GPG - Interoperability One Data Programme, in his Department's transparency data entitled Cabinet Office: spend data over £25,000 - July 2024, published on 29 August 2024, what other suppliers were considered for those software services.

In January 2024, Fujitsu said it would withdraw from bidding for contracts with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes – it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has a contract with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities. Fujitsu's bid approach is detailed in this letter, deposited in Parliament.

The spend published on 29 August 2024 relates to work done on an existing contract awarded to Fujitsu in March 2023 under the previous administration.

In selecting the supplier in March 2023, the Tech Services 3 framework was employed. This was chosen as other frameworks did not have the quantity of suppliers needed to attract adequately competitive bids or would lead to direct awards. 125 companies were invited to bid, of which 3 did, including Fujitsu. Following an evaluation, which assessed technical ability to meet the requirements, how well they understood these by developing a proof of concept, social value and costs, Fujitsu were successful.