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New Deal
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of the types of benefit received by those leaving the New Deal for 18 to 24 year olds to transfer to other benefits. [71186]
Angela Eagle: Of the 82,600 young people who have left the New Deal up to November 1998 (the latest date for which figures are available) 10,150, 12 per cent. of all leavers, have claimed other benefits. Of these, 5,600 have claimed Incapacity Benefit, 1,700 have claimed Income Support and 2,850 have claimed other benefits for which no detailed breakdown by benefit is available.
- Source:
- New Deal Evaluation Database.
NIRS2
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many extra staff have been recruited to compensate for the delays in the NIRS2 project; how many of these staff are (a) short-term and (b) part-time
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workers; what has been the cost of employing these staff including employment on-costs; and how much of this cost is recoverable from Anderson Consulting. [71788]
Mr. Timms:
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Newbury (Mr. Rendel) on 15 February 1999, Official Report, column 556.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for which customers and from what dates the Contributions Agency has declined to accept national insurance contributions because of an inability to record those contributions; how many customers are affected; how much revenue has been lost; and how it will be recovered. [71784]
Mr. Timms:
The Contributions Agency has never declined to accept National Insurance contributions from its customers or contributors because of an inability to record the contributions paid on the new National Insurance Recording System (NIRS2).
However, there have been some situations where the Department has been unable to register an individual to pay Class 2 self-employed contributions either by the Direct Debit or quarterly payment method as a consequence of the delays in introducing the NIRS2 on-line facilities.
The Department identified approximately 160,000 customers who were affected by the delays and provided them with information. Contingency arrangements were invoked where appropriate to minimise the impacts to customers.
Since the introduction of the on-line facility, the Agency has cleared approximately 31,000 cases from the 160,000 outstanding backlog cases. It is also continuing to action all new applications as they are received.
Collections of all outstanding Class 2 liabilities affected by the delays will be handled sensitively.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the objectives of the NIRS2 project; when the final decision was taken to implement the project; on what dates revisions of the objectives were approved; what has been the expenditure on this project to date; and if he will list the remaining implementation milestones to completion. [71770]
Mr. Timms:
The objectives of the NIRS2 project were to develop a new computer system that would replace the ageing NIRS1 system and to support the legislative changes brought about by the Pensions Act 1995.
The original NIRS2 Agreement was to deliver the system in 3 releases between February 1997 and April 1999. A subsequent Deed of Agreement was agreed in July 1996, which allowed for a phased delivery of the first release. Although incorporating the original time frame, the phasing of delivery between those dates was significantly altered.
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Release 2-3 is the remaining milestone. The agreed delivery date is the 6 April 1999, and this is still the current target. A maintenance release incorporating changes requested by the business is also planned for 6 April 1999.
As reported by the National Audit Office on 29 May 1997 the cost of implementing the NIRS2 computer system is likely to be around £134 million.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what studies have been commissioned under the Housing Benefit Computing Strategy Study; when such studies were commissioned; what agencies are employed in the study; how much expenditure has been committed so far; and what are the implementation milestones to completion. [71786]
Angela Eagle:
The Housing Benefit Computing Strategy (HBCS) study was announced on 5 March 1996 to explore the benefits of integrating local authority Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (HB/CTB) computer systems with the next generation of departmental computer systems. A range of studies were commissioned in 1996. They included a national survey of local authorities (to establish details of their existing systems and their attitude towards a national computing system); an HB/CTB process mapping exercise (to baseline the business requirements of an integrated system) and a financial analysis (to model the costs and benefits for the department and local authorities of such a system).
Further analytical work has been undertaken during the course of 1997 and 1998. At present, only the Department is involved in continuing work, but local authority Housing Benefit practitioners and a number of consultancy firms have been involved in the past. Excluding civil service and local authority costs, expenditure of approximately £640,000 has been committed so far. The study into whether Departmental computer systems should take account of HB/CTB is continuing. Integration of local authority and Departmental computer systems is a major undertaking and progress is dependent on the implementation of the Department's overall information systems/information technology strategy. Final decisions on the outcome of the HBCS study and any future implementation plans will be dependent on this.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will indicate the objectives of the benefits payments smartcard project; on what date the final decision was taken to implement the project; what has been the expenditure on the project so far; and if he will list the remaining implementation milestones to completion. [71764]
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Mr. Timms:
The Benefits Agency is involved, with Post Office Counters Ltd., in a Programme to automate post offices and benefit payments. The objectives of this Programme are:
To date, the Department's expenditure amounts to £241 million. This expenditure provides a range of services and an Information Technology infrastructure that will also support our wider programme of modernisation.
The Programme is presently undergoing a limited trial in the North East and South West of England using the Benefit Payment Service to pay Child Benefit and the Order Book Control Service to record bar coded order books. The remaining milestones consist of the completion of post office automation nationally, the introduction of card payment for all other benefits and the delivery of the remaining services; the Electronic Point of Sale Service which records post office product sales; and the Automated Payment Service that provides automated bill payment facilities.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he requires customers receiving child benefit to distinguish between children of different relationships. [71709]
Angela Eagle:
Generally, a person who is responsible for a child either because the child is living with them, or because they are contributing regularly towards the maintenance of the child, will be eligible for Child Benefit. The relationship between the child and the person claiming is immaterial.
Where competing claims are received in respect of the same child and both claimants live at the same address, a parent will have priority of title over a person who is not the child's parent. Step-parents and legally adoptive parents are treated as natural parents.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the objectives of (a) the accord project and (b) the assist computerisation project; on what date the final decision was taken to implement the project;
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what was the expenditure on each project; and if he will list the remaining implementation milestones to completion. [71781]
Mr. Timms:
The Access to Corporate Data (ACCORD) Procurement project was established to provide the Department with long term supply options to take forward the delivery of the new generation of Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) needed to underpin the modernisation of the Welfare State. The procurement set out to establish Private Finance Initiative/Private Public Partnership arrangements with suitable service providers.
The announcement of the selected service providers (AFFINITY, ARCWAY and 1ACCORD) to take this work forward on behalf of the Department was made on 5 November 1998, Official Report, column 646. Specific business allocations will be made to the service providers under the provision of an overarching IS/IT Services Agreement. Milestones for these individual projects will then be defined as part of the projects management activity.
Release 1a
The agreement delivery date of 10 February 1997 was achieved.
Release 1b
The original agreement date of 27 October 1997 was not achieved. Delivery took place on the 28 January 1998.
Release 1c
The original agreement date of 6 April 1998 was not achieved. Part of the service was delivered on the 13 July 1998, and final acceptance took place on the 28 August 1998.
To deliver a secure method of paying benefits at post offices;
To develop a system that meets recognised accountancy practices;
For automation to provide greater commercial opportunities enabling Post Office Counters Ltd. to improve competitiveness and increase efficiency;
To provide an improved level of service to all customers.
The project is being taken forward under the Private Finance Initiative and the contract was awarded to ICL Pathway on 15 May 1996.
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