§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list the faults in the computer programme administering the jobseeker's allowance which have been identified to date. [4516]
(2) if he will list the faults which have appeared in the computer programme administering the jobseeker's allowance. [5742]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe jobseeker's allowance payments system became operational on 7 October this year. The system contains some 1,500 computer programs, 900,000 lines of code, and involves 395W approximately 2,000,000 online transactions per day for 30,000 users in Benefits Agency and Employment Service offices at over 1,500 locations.
There have been no significant problems with the system. The number of faults reported is in line with expectations when implementing a system of this size and complexity. The majority of these, and all those considered urgent, have already been rectified, and the remainder will be fixed in maintenance releases scheduled for the coming months.
There have been eight potential payment faults, seven of which have now been fixed, and clerical action initiated to deal with the other. None have resulted in incorrect payments.
Of 50 minor system faults, 20 have already been fixed and a further 14 have fixes scheduled for implementation. System faults are those where an error in the process means that the program does not perform exactly according to specification. In such cases some clerical intervention may be required. These faults do not result in incorrect payments. For example, one fault raised concerns that local offices should receive two copies of certain reports but only a single copy is being produced.
There have been 16 other minor or cosmetic faults which have no impact on the operation of the system.