DWP ICT under fire

A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been published, criticising the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for administrative errors and an ICT system not designed "from the perspective of the user".

The report said the ICT issue was a "long-running problem" for the central government department, which has already been criticised by the National Audit Office for not doing enough to reduce benefits error wastage. At the time of the NAO's report in January, the DWP said it was "absolutely committed" to reducing customer error, and argued its welfare reforms "will simplify the benefits system, making it easier to understand and less open to mistakes".

"Our new fraud and error strategy focuses on preventing error in the first place, as well as detecting and correcting mistakes when they do happen," the DWP statement added.

According to the PAC report, administrative errors led to £2.2 billion in overpayments and £1.3 billion in underpayments during the 2009/10 financial year.

As well as being criticised in two reports, DWP has had to suffer the loss of its CTO James Gardner in January to the private sector, and is also 'time-sharing' its CIO Joe Harley, who became Government CIO earlier in the year.

The report also said the implementation of the Universal Credit programme, which is expected to be introduced from 2013 over a ten-year period, is "unlikely to be in time to contribute much to the planned 25% reduction in fraud and error," with PAC recommending DWP should use existing initiatives to ensure it maintains its commitment to reducing error.

During the witness statements given to the PAC before his retirement as DWP permanent secretary, Sir Leigh Lewis, said the department had "a very good track record of delivering its IT programmes successfully," and cited the Employment and Support Allowance, which was delivered to time and to budget.