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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →The Home Office announced on 14 July 2025 that it would end Fujitsu’s ITNow Service Desk contract early and bring the service in-house. The department cited an estimated saving of about £1 million, greater control over critical services and closer integration with an existing internal service desk.
This was not a complete end to Fujitsu’s work for the Home Office. Other Fujitsu arrangements, including support connected with the Police National Computer, enterprise-hosting hardware and ServiceNow software, remained in place.
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What contract did the Home Office end?
The affected arrangement was the ITNow Service Desk, Fujitsu Services Ltd’s frontline IT-support operation for the Home Office. The contract was signed in 2021 and was worth £21 million over three years.
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It had been due to expire in January 2026. The Home Office brought the planned end date forward to October 2025, according to the department’s disclosure and contemporary reporting by Computer Weekly.
A service desk typically handles issues such as access problems, device support, incident reporting and escalation. For a department responsible for policing, immigration and security-related work, the Home Office described the function as a critical service.
Why did the Home Office bring it in-house?
The Home Office gave three main reasons:
- Cost reduction: the department estimated savings of approximately £1 million.
- Greater control: direct departmental management would give the Home Office more control over a critical service.
- Integration: the service could be aligned with another service-desk capability already operated in-house.
These are the department’s stated reasons and intended benefits. The available sources do not independently establish that the projected saving was ultimately realised, or what the transition cost.
The official details appear in an ACoBA advice letter published on GOV.UK.
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Computer Weekly reported that Fujitsu employees working on the contract had been told they would transfer to the Home Office under TUPE regulations. TUPE is the UK framework governing employee transfers when a business or service moves to a new employer.
That report does not establish how many people transferred, whether every service-desk worker was covered, or whether contractors, subcontractors and offshore staff were included. It also does not establish whether the transferred workforce retained exactly the same terms or how the Home Office changed staffing, training and management.
“In-house” should therefore not be read as meaning that every aspect immediately became the work of existing permanent civil servants. The new operating model could include transferred employees, existing Home Office staff, internal service ownership and continued reliance on external software, hardware or specialist suppliers.
Fujitsu was not removed from all Home Office work
The most important qualification to the headline is that the Home Office did not sever every Fujitsu relationship.
The official disclosure identified other Fujitsu-related Home Office work involving:
- the Police National Computer;
- enterprise-hosting hardware;
- ServiceNow software; and
- the IT service desk that was being brought in-house.
The estimated annual value of the Home Office’s Fujitsu contracts was £55.43 million. That figure covered the wider portfolio, not just the ITNow Service Desk contract.
In procurement terms, the precise description is therefore: the Home Office brought one Fujitsu-run IT service desk in-house while retaining other Fujitsu contracts.
How does the Post Office Horizon scandal fit in?
The decision came while Fujitsu faced sustained political and reputational scrutiny over the Post Office Horizon scandal and the statutory inquiry into the system. That context helps explain why the announcement attracted attention.
However, the available evidence does not show that the Home Office ended this particular contract as a punishment for Horizon. The department publicly framed the decision around cost, control and alignment with existing in-house capability.
It is therefore more accurate to say that the move occurred amid Horizon-related scrutiny, while the Home Office’s stated direct rationale was operational and financial. Computer Weekly’s reporting on Fujitsu and Horizon illustrates why the wider supplier relationship remained politically sensitive.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the decision mean for government technology?
Bringing a service desk in-house can offer government more direct control over priorities, incident response and accountability. It may also help retain operational knowledge within the department and reduce dependence on a supplier facing public scrutiny.
But the change also transfers responsibilities to the Home Office. The department must manage recruitment, retention, training, tools, service levels and resilience itself. Employment, pension, management and transition costs could reduce the headline saving, while demand spikes or shortages of specialist expertise could create operational risks.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsInternal ownership also does not eliminate supplier dependence. A Home Office-run service desk may still rely on third-party platforms, infrastructure, hardware and specialist support. The department’s continuing Fujitsu contracts demonstrate that ending one service arrangement is not the same as removing a supplier from the technology estate.
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Does this signal a government-wide Fujitsu ban?
No. The Home Office disclosure said Fujitsu had received almost £7 billion in government contracts since 2012. It also referred to a £220.3 million HMRC data-centre and project-services deal awarded without competition in June 2025.
Those figures point to a more complicated procurement picture. The government may choose to bring selected critical services under direct control, but supplier expertise, legacy systems and technology dependencies can make an immediate wholesale exit difficult.
A later Computer Weekly report also described Fujitsu’s continuing importance to the Post Office’s Horizon replacement process, underlining that disentangling government technology from the company is a wider, multi-year issue rather than the result of one Home Office contract change.
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The announcement established the planned October 2025 end date, but the supplied sources do not independently verify the transition’s final outcome. Important questions include:
- Was operational control transferred on schedule?
- How many Fujitsu workers transferred under TUPE?
- Were there outages, delays or changes in service quality?
- Was the estimated £1 million saving achieved after transition costs?
- What was the Home Office’s ongoing annual cost after October 2025?
- Will other Fujitsu services be brought in-house, re-tendered or retained?
Until those questions are answered with post-transition performance and financial data, the £1 million figure should be treated as an estimate rather than a confirmed saving.
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