HC Deb 24 May 1989 vol 153 c545W
Mr. Wareing

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the current use and effectiveness of the microcomputer projects in his local offices.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The microcomputer projects have been in daily use in local offices for some time. The micros help calculate new income support claims, help process social fund applications, automate bulk payments of claimants' fuel bills, collate management information statistics and aid the speedy location of claimants' files. Since their introduction, significant enhancements have been added to improve performance.

Mr. Wareing

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of occasions on which there has been a breakdown of micro-computers used in all his local offices since the inception of the social fund; and if he will make a statement on the effects of such breakdowns on the efficiency of the service.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The information requested is as follows:

All LOMP systems: The number of breakdown faults reported to the LOMP central help desk for the period 1 April 1988 to 31 March 1989 was 2,161 for all LOMP systems. Contingency arrangements for ensuring the efficiency of the service exist for all systems and these were complemented when necessary.

Social Fund System: The number of breakdown faults reported to the LOMP central help desk for the period 1 April 1988 to 31 March 1989 was 992 for the social fund system. Contingency arrangements for ensuring the efficiency of the service exist for social fund and these were implemented when necessary.

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