§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the nature of the design faults in his Department's national computer which necessitate its being closed down when a claimant's partner's claim is being considered; [10917]
(2) who was responsible for the design of the computer system operated by his Department; and who operates it; [10918]
(3) when the faults in his Department's computer system will be rectified. [10919]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe administration of income support is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Kevin McNamara, dated 21 January 1997:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking what is the nature of the design faults in his Department's national computer which necessitated it being closed down when a claimant's partner's claim is being considered; who was responsible for the design of the computer system operated by his Department, and who operates it and when the faults in his Department's computer system will be rectified.I have assumed your question refers to the recent incident at the Benefits Agency (BA) Hull District on 29 October 1996 when a customer was incorrectly informed that a payment could not be made due to a fault on the computer system which would not allow acceptance of a partner's National Insurance number.This is not a design fault of the income Support Computer System (ISCS) but is specifically included as a measure to prevent duplicate payments of benefit. The office has now informed all relevant staff of the procedures to enable clerical payments to be considered at an early stage where appropriate.I apologise that the information given previously to one of our customers was incorrect and for the inconvenience caused.623WInformation Technology Services Agency (ITSA) is an Executive Agency of the DSS. ITSA provides, either internally or through contracts with the private sector, the information technology services required to support social security provision. ITSA, in partnership with the BA and companies from the private sector is responsible for the design and operation of the ISCS.When any potential problems on ISCS are reported they are investigated by a combined support team of BA and ITSA staff. If a fault in the system is discovered as the cause of a problem, instructions are given to the users on how to deal with the matter whilst the fix to the system is scheduled. The resolution of identified faults is prioritised according to specified criteria.I hope you find this reply helpful.