§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what action he is taking to improve IT provision in his Department's offices in Essex; [85255]
(2) what assessment he has made of the reliability of IT systems in his Department's offices in Essex; [85257]
(3) if the computer system in his Department's office in Chelmsford is compatible with that in his Department's office in Southend; [85254]
(4) if his Department's offices in Essex are linked via a Wide Area computer network. [85258]
§ Angela EagleThe Department has an agreed strategy for improving its Information Technology (IT) services throughout the Department in support of its modernisation programme. This includes providing improved quality and consistent data from mainframe systems as well as improved IT tools in the office and on the desktop.
The agreement of reliability is contained within a number of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between the Benefits Agency and Information Technology Services Agency. These SLAs also form the basis of contractual agreements between the Department and its private sector service providers.
The Department also maintains and supports a common infrastructure providing a system of computerised benefits across all Benefit Agency offices including Chelmsford and Southend and these items are compatible. Local Districts have some freedom to implement local desktop solutions, typically work management and administrative systems, to complement their main IT systems for benefit delivery.
The Department's offices in Essex are linked via a Wide Area computer network.