§ Richard BurdenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the problems with the Inland Revenue's IT system to which paragraph 9 of the Government Response to the Treasury Committee's Tenth Report refers, on Inland Revenue Matters (HC 834) of Session 2002–03 have been resolved; and what corrective measures have been taken by the Inland Revenue to ensure that similar problems do not reoccur when end-of-year-reconciliation occurs. [141307]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe IT support for the new tax credits is a major system. Though there were a number of difficulties in the early days of live running, the system 337W has been stable for some months with significantly improved performance. We have carefully reviewed our plans for future IT releases. An audit by independent IT consultants was commissioned as part of that review. Its results are informing the implementation of the next major IT releases, which will deliver the processes for finalising tax credit awards and renewing claims in 2004. We have also asked the consultants to support the Inland Revenue and its IT supplier in implementing the lessons learned from previous IT releases.