Opposition want answers on DWP computer failure

Friday, 26 November 2004 10:31 AM

The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are calling for answers following reports of a widespread crash in the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) computer systems.

The department is playing down the problem with the computer, which deals with the benefits administration system, and insists that impact upon the public will be minimal. But it admits that some claims will be delayed.

The details of what happened are sketchy, but it is believed that specialists had to be called in after around 80 per cent of the computers crashed after a routine maintenance upload went wrong.

Steve Webb, the Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman called for the National Audit Office to be brought in to assess the computer problems in the department and "get this mess sorted out once and for all."

He pointed out that this was the latest in a long line of computer failures, including the National Insurance, Tax Credits and Child Support Agency's computer.

"Once again vulnerable people have been let down by the DWP and its computer chaos. It seems that scarcely a week goes by without another example of a Government computer system, overseen by well paid consultants, leaving people's finances in a mess."

The Government has already withheld £12 million from Texas-based contractor EDS, which runs the department's technology network, after the ill-fated installation of the Child Support Agency computer network. Alan Johnson, DWP Secretary, has ordered an internal inquiry into the role of EDS and threatened to pull the plug on the entire £456 million system.

David Willetts, who speaks for the Conservatives on pensions, has demanded to know how long it will take to sort out the backlog. Speaking on the 'Today' programme this morning, he said: "They have been very reluctant to tell us what happened.

"They said the problems were intermittent but in fact they were more serious than that."

The crash comes at a time when the Government is trying to convince people of the merits of technology as it presses ahead with plans to slash 104,000 civil service jobs. The Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS) described the crash as the biggest in government history and said it highlighted the danger of the proposed job cuts.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said there were some "serious questions" to be answered following the crash. "We are calling for a full inquiry," he said.

"Yet again this throws into question the Government's ability to run departments if it is going ahead with axing thousands of jobs. We are urging the Government to reconsider the job losses while all around IT seems to be failing."

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