MPs uneasy over benefits plans
Request for early funding for new IT last used by problematic Child Support Agency
An influential Commons committee has issued a warning over government plans to rush the implementation of a £295m IT system for its proposed Employment and Support Allowance.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is proposing use of a special procedure to authorise spending on the system before the enabling legislation is passed by the Commons, to meet a politically imposed deadline to make the reform by the end of 2008.
But MPs are concerned about the timescale and budgeting.
‘We have some reservations about this request, particularly about the challenging timetable of the project and the lack of external scrutiny of the costings,’ says the report published last week by the Commons Work and Pensions Committee.
The procedure was last used in 2000 to prepare for the Child Support Agency, which has suffered significant problems.
‘This does not fill us with a lot of confidence,’ said one committee member.
MPs are also concerned that there is a link between the department’s cancellation of the Benefits Processing Replacement Programme (BPRP) in September, and the request for authorisation to start work on the proposed Employment and Support Allowance system.
‘The circumstances of the cancellation of the BPRP project, at a substantial cost to the taxpayer, remain of concern to us,’ says the report.
The committee has requested additional information from the department to mitigate its concerns, before the final report is submitted to Parliament.
DWP’s major IT implementations have a patchy record. The Jobcentre Plus customer management system had huge problems, its Debt Management software has caused massive backlogs, the Child Support Agency has suffered continuing troubles, and the BPRP cancellation has cost £140m.
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