§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in receipt of(a) pension, (b) income support and (c) both have had their payment delayed as a result of the income support computer software being unable to calculate payment due to increases in retirement pension; if any such problem in making payments had been anticipated; if any similar failures in processing payments are expected at the beginning of the next financial year; and if he will make a statement. [154544]
§ Mr. BayleyThe administration of Income Support is a matter for Alexis Cleveland the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Paul Burstow, dated 29 March 2001:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking, how many people in receipt of (a) pension, (b) income support and (c) both have had their payment delayed as a result of the income support computer software being unable to calculate payment due to increases in 89W retirement pension; if any such problem in making payments had been anticipated; if any similar failures in processing payments are expected at the beginning of the next financial year.It may help if I explain that the Income Support Computer System (ISCS) can automatically calculate and make payment due to Retirement Pension (RP) uprating for 84% of cases (up from 83% last year). The balance of the cases are not calculated automatically because they have exceptional/complex circumstances which require clerical action.The cases that cannot be uprated automatically are identified via ISCS and a report issued to Managers in field offices. Field Managers plan for this annual exercise and use the uprating reports to allocate resources to carry out the necessary activity on the cases listed. Further reports are produced on a monthly basis to monitor progress.This process only effects Income Support pensioners. Customers in receipt of Income Support or RP only are unaffected.The production of the initial uprating report was postponed by one week this year to accommodate Winter Fuel Payment work. There are no further delays planned, and the IS Live Support Incident Management Team has not received any reports from the Field which point to payment delays or any other problem with the ISCS with respect to uprating.I hope this is helpful.