Andy Burnham says Fujitsu agreement is 'not binding'

An agreement was signed with Fujitsu in December

The mayor of Greater Manchester says a recent agreement with the scandal-hit firm Fujitsu is "not binding".

Andy Burnham signed the agreement in December, outlining the firm's support for the region's new investment zone.

Fujitsu apologised earlier this month to sub-postmasters who were prosecuted for stealing money due to the company's faulty Horizon software system.

Mr Burnham said he would "wait to see" the outcome of the public inquiry into the Post Office scandal.

Japanese firm Fujitsu has had links with Greater Manchester for more than 75 years and it currently employs about 500 people in the area.

During a trade mission to Tokyo, Mr Burnham and Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig signed a partnership agreement which meant the firm would provide support for a recently-announced investment zone in Greater Manchester.

A spokesperson for the region's combined authority said: "No contract has been signed between Greater Manchester and Fujitsu, no work has been undertaken and no public money has been spent with or earmarked for Fujitsu."

Mr Burnham told BBC Radio Manchester: "We've got a local responsibility to the employer… but at the same time we've got a responsibility to justice and the sub-postmasters."

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters and postmistresses were prosecuted for stealing money because of incorrect information provided by a computer system called Horizon, developed by Fujitsu.

A public inquiry which began in 2021 has drawn more attention since ITV aired the drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office this month.

Fujitsu apologised for its part in "this appalling miscarriage of justice" at a session on 16 January.

Mr Burnham said: "They are very serious admissions. I want it to be clear that I fully support the sub-postmasters and mistresses in their campaign to get justice from the Post Office, from Fujitsu, from the government.

"We obviously then have to wait to see what the public inquiry finds."

The drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office highlighted the plight of those who were wrongly prosecuted

Mr Burnham added that local leaders could not "disregard" the 500 Fujitsu jobs in the region, adding: "We have got to work with the company in terms of its plans in Greater Manchester, hence the agreement, but there's no contract, there's nothing binding and it's for that reason - because there's an ongoing public inquiry.

"But the situation we're in allows that, because there's no decision that's been made - it's a complicated situation, if I'm honest."

He said December's agreement was signed "before some of the recent revelations had come through in relation to the public inquiry and the evidence that Fujitsu gave".