Failing CSA IT systems under fire again

MPs say the DWP lacked in-house IT expertise

MPs have heavily criticised the Child Support Agency (CSA) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for their approach to the CSA’s troubled IT systems and their dealings with supplier EDS.

A report on the implementation of child support reforms by the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says the DWP failed to recruit sufficient high-calibre IT professionals to be able to challenge the validity of assurances given by IT suppliers.

The department implemented a new IT system in 2002 despite ‘ample warning’ of 14 critical defects. Problems with the system when it went live resulted in more than 400 clerical workarounds, later rising to 600, of which 268 were still required when the committee took evidence at the end of last year.

‘The CSA system failed staff and customers from the day of launch and as its problems emerged they were either ignored or a lack of in-house expertise meant the department was unable to challenge its supplier,’ says the PAC report.

EDS was awarded a £427m Private Finance Initiative contract to deliver a new IT system by 2002. Two years later, after a lengthy commercial dispute over delays and faults, the DWP increased the deal to £456m but reduced it in 2005 to £381m, including a £53m penalty for failing to meet contract terms and poor delivery.

‘Contractors who assume responsibility for sensitive public services should not lose sight of their wider obligation to the community in the single-minded pursuit of their commercial interests,’ says the PAC report.

As part of the deal, EDS agreed to provide the agency's original system – which is still in use with cases unable to be transferred to the new system - f ree of charge until next year, saving a further £24m a year.

The CSA is now spending 70p for every £1 collected for child support. The agency plans to spend £320m more to improve service. It has a reducing backlog of 239,000 cases, with 36,000 ‘stuck in the system because of IT problems,’ according to the committee.

The agency is due to be replaced by a new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission next year.