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30 Mar 2004 : Column 1337W—continued
Child Support Agency
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the target response times are for the Child Support Agency telephone helpline; and what the most recent performance delivery against these targets is. [162170]
Mr. Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Jon Trickett, dated 30 March 2004:
- In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently on leave I am replying on his behalf.
- You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the targets response times are for the Child Support Agency telephone helpline; and what the most recent performance delivery against these targets is.
- The Agency aims to answer 85% of calls received within 60 seconds. In February 2004 it answered 86.9% of calls within that timeframe.
Correspondence
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will answer question reference 147652, tabled by the hon. Member for Northavon on 8 January. [161624]
Mr. Browne [holding answer 15 March 2004]: An answer was given to the hon. Member today.
30 Mar 2004 : Column 1338W
IT Projects
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list each information technology project being undertaken by his Department and its agencies, including the (a) start date, (b) the planned completion date, (c) the current expected completion date, (d) the planned cost and (e) the current estimated cost; and if he will make a statement. [147652]
Mr. Browne [holding answer 13 January 2004]: The Department for Work and Pensions and its businesses currently have in excess of 100 individual projects which encompass information technology changes to a greater or lesser extent. The Department's major projects are those contained in the modernisation programme. For the most part, these projects embrace both information technology and business change. The following table lists the Department's current major programmes and projects that are based predominantly on IT change with information on schedules, budgets and achievements to date.
The "Planned Costs" column provides forecasts to project implementation. The "Current Authorised Expenditure" column gives expenditure authorised to the programme or project's next approval gate.
Expenditure on projects is formally approved by the Department's governance process and authorised through review gates. These reviews ensure that projects are meeting the standards we expect (including business change, technical and commercial criteria) before authority to progress to the next stage of their development.
It should be noted that project details may alter as they pass through the project lifecycle.
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs(£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child Support Reform | September 1999 | October 2004 | Currently under review | 400 | 400 |
| Key achievements | Since 3 March 2003, new Child Support claims have been calculated using the new rules and new IT. | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Management System | October 2001 | March 2006 | March 2006 | 300 | 150 |
| Key achievements | This system currently being rolled out will allow information supplied by customers to be gathered electronically by staff, improving efficiency and customer service. Staff will be able to check information supplied against that already held and issue the customer with a Statement reflecting the information supplied. | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISCS/JSAPS Modernisation Programme | August 2002 | Various | (5)Various | 20 | 20 |
| Key achievements | The Department's updated IS/IT Strategy has identified new ways of delivering IT improvements at lower risk. The modernisation of our Income Support and Jobseekers Allowance systems is now being taken forward in line with updated IS/IT Strategy principles—for example, a preference for commercially available packages rather than bespoke development and staged incremental improvements rather than "big bang" replacement. | ||||
(5) In line with the Department's IT Strategy, this programme has changed from system replacement to a rolling programme of incremental improvements.
30 Mar 2004 : Column 1339W
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working Age IS/IT Strategy Programme | December 2003 | Various | (7)Various | Under review | 10 |
| Key achievements | This is a new programme in its initial start-up phase. | ||||
(6) This is a rolling programme of a number of business and IT improvement projects with individual start and completion dates.
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Tax Credits | April 2000 | April 2005 | April 2005 | 90 | 90 |
| Key achievements | January 2003: IT Gateway between Inland Revenue and DWP went live.April 2003: Payment of new awards of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit start. October 2003: 30,000 Minimum Income Guarantee child premium cases successfully completed. | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Office Infrastructure | May 2000 | June 2004 | June 2004 | 750 | 745 |
| Key achievements | DOI aims to implement a modern IT infrastructure platform across the department allowing staff access to modern business software. By February 2004, over 119,000 PCs had been rolled out (plus 23,000 installed in ex ES sites). | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Managing Core Systems Estate | November 2003 | March 2006 | March 2006 | 15 | 1 |
| Key achievements | This is a new programme of enhancements to the Department's core systems and is in define and initiate stage. | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensions Forecasting Programme | September 1999 | April 2005 | April 2005 | 40 | 30 |
| Key achievements | October 2001: Combined Pensions Forecasting service available. | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensions Credit | August 2001 | October 2004 | October 2004 | 285 | 255 |
| Key achievements | April 2003: Advance application for Pension Credit invited.May 2003: Minimum Income Guarantee to Pension Credit—conversion started.January 2004: Pension Credit payable. 2.18 million pensioner households are now in receipt. Pension Credit Application Line have taken their millionth call. | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensions Transformation Project | January 2002 | 2006 | 2006 | To be determined—project to be defined | 95 |
| Key achievements | This project is currently focusing on design and delivering changes to the Pension Service organisation, business processes, services and IT. | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Information System | July 2003 | October 2006 | October 2006 | 50 | 10 |
| Key achievements | This is a new project in its define and initiate stage. | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment Modernisation Programme | October 1999 | December 2005 | December 2005 | 465 | 200 |
| Key achievements | From April 2003: Direct Payment became the normal method of payment for new customers. Benefit systems aligned to accommodate direct payments. | ||||
30 Mar 2004 : Column 1341W
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource Management | April 2001 | September 2006 | September 2006 | 155 | 40 |
| Key achievements | The project is configuring standard Oracle software and implementing best practice processes to replace the Department's existing resource management systems. | ||||
| Project | Start date | Due end date | Expected end date | Planned costs (£ million) | Current authorised expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debt Management | November 2000 | April 2005 | April 2005 | 115 | 60 |
| Key achievements | February 2004: Nine out of 10 Debt Centres now set-up. | ||||
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