HC Deb 04 August 1976 vol 916 cc841-3W
Mr. Brotherton

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) of the benefit cheques issued by his Department's computer centre at Reading (a) to date this year and (b) in 1975, how many were made out for inaccurate sums of money;

(2) what was the total value of benefit cheques issued by his Department's computer centre at Reading (a) to date this year and (b) in 1975;

(3) how many benefit cheques were issued by his Department's computer centre at Reading (a) to date this year and (b) in 1975;

(4) how many benefit cheques, issued by his Department's computer centre at Reading, were returned by the Post Office marked "gone away" or "address unknown" (a) to date in 1976 and (b) in 1975;

(5) on how many working days (a) to date this year and (b) in 1975 the computers at his Department's computer centre at Reading were not in operation;

(6) how many computers are installed at his Department's computer centre at Reading;

(7) what is the cost to public funds of running his Department's computer centre at Reading.

Mr. Deakins

Two ICL 1904S and one ICL 1906 computers are installed at the Department of Health and Social Security computer centre at Reading dealing, very largely, with unemployment benefit though a number of other tasks are performed on a "bureau" basis. The ICL 1906 machine will be replaced in September 1976 by a third ICL 1904S to enable the take on of work from the residue of unemployment benefit offices in the southern part of the country to be completed.

The number and value of Girocheques issued from the computer centre in 1975 and to date in 1976 were:

Number Value
1975 8.5 million £140 million
To date in 1976 7.8 million £141 million

The number of overpayments arising on claims dealt with through the computer centre—including those due to errors on the part of claimants—was:

1975 9,187
1st January to 31st March 1976 3,782

(returns are compiled quarterly and the returns for the quarter to 30th June 1976 are not yet available).

Underpayments are not reported as deficiencies; they are made good by later additional payments.

The greater proportion of these inaccurate payments were caused by errors in the data passed to the computer. Those arising from computer programme faults were:

1975 … … … 115
To date in 1976 … … … 1

The faults were quickly identified and remedied. The computer programme contains various checks for validity and reasonableness of payments. In addition all Girocheques for an amount of £100 or more are checked by the local unemployment benefit office before issue.

There is no centralised record of Giro-cheques returned by the Post Office as they are usually returned direct to local offices with other mail and the records do not distinguish the reasons for return.

There were no working days in 1975 or 1976 when the Reading computer centre was not in operation. It works on a three-shift system from 23.45 hours on Sunday until 23.45 hours on Friday of each week except for public holidays. On only three occasions during the years in question has the centre failed to dispatch all Girocheques in time to meet the Post Office deadlines for first post delivery the next day: in May 1975 when the work load was abnormal due to the

Number of amenity beds at 31st December 1975 Average daily occupancy by paying patients during 1975 Percentage daily occupancy rate by paying patients during 1975
Regional Health Authorities/ Boards of Governors
Northern … … … … 212 25 11.8
Yorkshire … … … … 341 68 19.9
Trent … … … … 291 78 26.8
East Anglia … … … … 55 5 9.1
North-West Thames … … … … 180 14 7.8
North-East Thames … … … … 177 29 16.3
South-East Thames … … … … 238 17 7.1
South-West Thames … … … … 404 148 36.6
Wessex … … … … 166 21 12.7
Oxford … … … … 100 12 12.0
South-Western … … … … 162 17 10.5
West Midland … … … … 351 24 6.8
Mersey … … … … 208 18 8.7
North-Western … … … … 277 22 7.9
London specialist Boards of Governors … 47 10 21.3
Total … … … … 3,209 508 15.8