§ Mr. John TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects a resolution to Child Support Agency computer problems deriving from running two concurrent systems. [167134]
§ Mr. PondThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. John Taylor, dated 29 April 2004:
In replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects a resolution to Child Support Agency computer problems deriving from running two concurrent systems.
I have been working closely with EDS to resolve the issues on the new computer system. We are currently working on a remediation plan, which has yet to be validated and agreed. The old scheme cases will be converted to the new scheme when Ministers are confident that it is working well. I will continue to monitor this carefully and make regular reports to the Secretary of State on 1238W progress. As you are aware, reports have been made available in the House of Commons library on 16 July, 18 November 2003, 12 February and 21 April 2004.