06 May 2005
Continuing problems with data management at the Department for Work and Pensions have left hundreds of millions of pounds in vital benefits unpaid, a new report has revealed.
A study by the DWP's decision-making standards committee, published on April 28, found that the department is still dogged by problems with record-keeping, despite several management initiatives to alleviate the situation.
The committee's annual report reveals that the DWP is plagued by errors relating to lost files, poor data validation and the increasingly complex benefits system.
Disabled people and those suffering from long-term illness are most at risk of poor benefits services as a result of these problems, the committee found.
Incapacity Benefit records, for example, are so inadequate that the committee uncovered £538m-worth of underpayments for just five possible 'error types' over three years.
Data management across the DWP is so poor that the committee was unable to provide assurances about the quality of benefits decision-making for the government's entire Jobcentre Plus, Pension Service and Disability and Carers Service operations.
Many DWP agencies have been unable to validate data for benefits claims, often because files have gone missing, raising questions about the accuracy of official data.
Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Webb said the situation was a 'disgrace' and blamed ministers and senior DWP managers for 'failing the people they are meant to serve'.
Webb added: 'Millions of pounds of essential financial support is being denied [to] people, especially those with long-term illnesses. And equally, millions of pounds of taxpayers' money is being wasted on avoidable overpayments.'
The DWP was unable to comment on the study this week, but the committee's report acknowledges that the department 'has been undergoing major change' and that 'this inevitably has an impact on the quality of service to customers'.
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