DWP increased development spending by a third

The Department for Work and Pensions increased its IT development budget from £224m in 2006-07 to £303m in 2008-09 to introduce online services

  • GC News
  • Kable,

According to a parliamentary written answer published on 10 March 2010, the DWP spent the money "to improve customer service and streamline processes".

A DWP spokesperson told GC News: "This spike in development costs covers various specific projects including supporting the introduction of employment and support allowance and the cost of introducing JSA (Jobseeker's Allowance) and state pension online and various other online self-service projects."

"We have made huge efficiency savings on IT since 2004 reducing total costs from £1.071bn to £987m in 2008-09 and we expect these reductions to continue," the department added.

DWP minister Jim Knight told Labour MP Claire Curtis-Thomas: "Every project is subject to continuous rigorous scrutiny to ensure it fits with departmental strategy and delivers value for money."

Knight also said that "no IT projects have been cancelled prior to completion by the department and its agencies in the last 12 months," after being asked about cancellations by Conservative MP Philip Hammond.


Your IP address will be logged

Comments in chronological order

Comments are now closed for this entry.
  • This symbol indicates that that person is Kable's staffStaff

  • GrahamIX

    16 Mar 2010, 1:10PM

    So, the "huge efficiency savings" are to shave £84m off a billion pound budget?

    Or am I reading that wrong?

  • mikebach

    18 Mar 2010, 5:47PM

    Hopefully this expenditure covers the replacement IT systems for the failing systems provided by Atos Origin. The Employment and Support Allowance nightmare that goes by the name of Atos Healthcare in which claimants are called customers or clients or sometime the correct claimants... medical reports supposed to be written in English are as unsound as those produced by an astrology or a palm reader. The system is supposed to handle inbound emails but the Atos clerks are so reticient to use and no wonder judging by the Atos email server uptime.

    The recent Parliamentary inquiry, Decision making and appeals in the benefits system is so critical that they are calling for a Welfare Commission to examine the existing benefits system ...
    http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmworpen/313/31302.htm

    Judge for yourselves, I have published all the correspondence I have had relating to ESA since the diagnosis of my brain tumour. The Atos IT systems are so flawed any system produced by DWP in house must be an improvement. http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatos.html. Remember those long gone times when IBM stood for "its better manually" ... IBM people used to say it as a joke. Can anyone think of an apposite phrase for Atos ...please no swear words.

Comments are now closed for this entry.

Comments

Sorry, commenting is not available at this time. Please try again later.