Income Support (Hansard, 19 January 1993)

§ Mr. Burt

The administration of income support is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 18 January 1993. As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking if he will list by date for the last 12 months, the number of times his Benefits Agency's Income Support Computer system has malfunctioned. I am pleased to advise you that the time lost through computer malfunction is minimal. The Income Support Computer Service is available for 122,400 hours a year. Only 0.72 per cent. of computer time was lost in the year ended December 1992. This was a total of 882 hours and 57 minutes. I have appended, in chronological order, information on the incidents where there has been a loss of the Income Support computer service. The time lost on any date shown is a cumulative total for the number of incidents shown and may represent one or more offices. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report. A copy will also be placed in the Library.

		Time lost
Date	Incidents raised	Hours	Minutes
3 January 1992	1	—	33
7 July 1992	1	1	35
15 January 1992	2	5	54
16 January 1992	2	3	44
18 January 1992	7	7	06
19 January 1992	3	10	56
24 January 1992	1	1	15
26 January 1992	2	1	16
27 January 1992	3	2	57
28 January 1992	2	2	02
29 January 1992	9	27	56
2 February 1992	2	1	18
4 February 1992	2	2	29
6 February 1992	1	—	16
9 February 1992	2	3	00
17 February 1992	4	7	35
18 February 1992	2	—	34
1 March 1992	2	1	20
2 March 1992	2	3	46
3 March 1992	1	1	05
5 March 1992	2	4	39
8 March 1992	2	6	06
9 March 1992	4	6	44
12 March 1992	1	—	03
13 March 1992	2	2	36
18 March 1992	2	4	31
19 March 1992	5	12	37
23 March 1992	2	1	16
7 April 1992	2	4	38
8 April 1992	1	—	40
10 April 1992	1	—	13
15 April 1992	2	2	20
24 April 1992	2	—	40
28 April 1992	2	1	28
29 April 1992	33	28	21
30 April 1992	5	17	43
1 May 1992	1	—	28
6 May 1992	4	7	32

212W

		Time lost
Date	Incidents raised	Hours	Minutes
14 May 1992	2	2	16
26 May 1992	1	1	00
29 May 1992	2	4	13
7 June 1992	1	3	20
9 June 1992	4	2	01
10 June 1992	1	—	41
11 June 1992	1	—	50
17 June 1992	1	—	14
21 June 1992	1	1	06
23 June 1992	4	8	22
25 June 1992	2	4	00
26 June 1992	2	—	20
27 June 1992	3	2	45
1 July 1992	5	1	05
6 July 1992	2	2	59
7 July 1992	4	8	43
10 July 1992	1	—	59
13 July 1992	2	3	15
17 July 1992	2	1	45
18 July 1992	2	2	00
20 July 1992	4	2	47
22 July 1992	2	2	04
23 July 1992	1	—	05
24 July 1992	12	11	45
27 July 1992	3	3	04
28 July 1992	2	—	55
3 August 1992	2	1	30
4 August 1992	4	3	55
5 August 1992	5	9	54
6 August 1992	1	1	00
7 August 1992	1	—	48
13 August 1992	1	—	50
18 August 1992	1	—	32
20 August 1992	1	—	47
22 August 1992	6	6	22
23 August 1992	2	8	34
31 August 1992	7	22	18
1 September 1992	10	12	40
2 September 1992	1	3	10
9 September 1992	8	6	48
10 September 1992	2	1	54
11 September 1992	1	2	27
12 September 1992	1	1	09
14 September 1992	5	6	41
15 September 1992	1	—	22
18 September 1992	4	2	10
22 September 1992	1	—	27
26 September 1992	3	3	56
1 October 1992	3	—	59
2 October 1992	1	—	39
6 October 1992	2	2	54
7 October 1992	2	5	11
8 October 1992	2	—	40
13 October 1992	2	3	35
14 October 1992	2	3	17
19 October 1992	32	160	00
20 October 1992	29	37	26
21 October 1992	23	35	52
22 October 1992	8	8	56
24 October 1992	14	10	08
25 October 1992	2	—	56
29 October 1992	2	2	077
2 November 1992	2	2	45
4 November 1992	1	—	23
8 November 1992	2	1	29
10 November 1992	2	2	37
12 November 1992	2	3	26
18 November 1992	1	—	31
19 November 1992	2	1	25
30 November 1992	1	4	20
1 December 1992	40	82	09
2 December 1992	8	5	07
3 December 1992	6	11	34
4 December 1992	5	4	06
8 December 1992	1	—	32
10 December 1992	21	34	28
11 December 1992	1	2	00

213W

	Time lost
Date	Incidents raised	Hours	Minutes
21 December 1992	13	19	21
13 December 1992	1	1	00
17 December 1992	2	4	04
20 December 1992	3	4	40
23 December 1992	2	1	13
29 December 1992	1	2	22
31 December 1992	1	—	32
Totals	352	822	57