By Tash Shifrin
24 February 2010
Costs are ‘mounting alarmingly’ at the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission, where defective IT systems have led many cases to be processed by hand, MPs warn in a report published today.
CMEC replaced the Child Support Agency in 2008. Ministers admitted the CSA had ‘failed’ after being plagued by problems with its original IT system and a £456m replacement – dubbed CS2.
Now soaring numbers of ‘clerical cases’ were being processed manually after ‘getting stuck’ in the inherited IT systems, says the Commons work and pensions committee. This is despite a £107m upgrade of CS2 as part of a £320m Operational Improvement Plan, launched in 2006.
‘We are concerned at the almost exponential rise in the number of clerical cases caused by shortcomings in information technology. The additional costs of clerical administration of cases are mounting alarmingly,’ the report says.
The National Audit Office has estimated that, at the current rate of increase, around 108,000 cases would be managed clerically by September 2010 – up from 19,000 in March 2006.
MPs warn this situation is not a ‘stable base’ for the introduction of a new child maintenance scheme next year – when the CMEC will be forced to run three separate IT systems and its clerical workload.
The commission missed its 2008/09 child maintenance arrears target, while the 2009/10 target was ‘looking very challenging’, the MPs found.
Committee chair Terry Rooney praised the CMEC’s success in clearing the backlog of child maintenance cases and reducing new claim processing time. But, he added: ‘The committee is concerned that the extra costs of clerical administration will place too heavy a burden on the organisation as it prepares to launch the new child maintenance scheme.’
A CMEC spokeswoman said: ‘The IT problems of the current CSA schemes are well documented. The new child maintenance scheme, which will be supported by a brand new IT system, will provide the long-term solution to this issue. This remains on track for launch next year.’
CMEC was ‘confident’ that the clerical caseload would not hit the move to the new maintenance scheme, she added.
24 February 2010
Costs are ‘mounting alarmingly’ at the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission, where defective IT systems have led many cases to be processed by hand, MPs warn in a report published today.
CMEC replaced the Child Support Agency in 2008. Ministers admitted the CSA had ‘failed’ after being plagued by problems with its original IT system and a £456m replacement – dubbed CS2.
Now soaring numbers of ‘clerical cases’ were being processed manually after ‘getting stuck’ in the inherited IT systems, says the Commons work and pensions committee. This is despite a £107m upgrade of CS2 as part of a £320m Operational Improvement Plan, launched in 2006.
‘We are concerned at the almost exponential rise in the number of clerical cases caused by shortcomings in information technology. The additional costs of clerical administration of cases are mounting alarmingly,’ the report says.
The National Audit Office has estimated that, at the current rate of increase, around 108,000 cases would be managed clerically by September 2010 – up from 19,000 in March 2006.
MPs warn this situation is not a ‘stable base’ for the introduction of a new child maintenance scheme next year – when the CMEC will be forced to run three separate IT systems and its clerical workload.
The commission missed its 2008/09 child maintenance arrears target, while the 2009/10 target was ‘looking very challenging’, the MPs found.
Committee chair Terry Rooney praised the CMEC’s success in clearing the backlog of child maintenance cases and reducing new claim processing time. But, he added: ‘The committee is concerned that the extra costs of clerical administration will place too heavy a burden on the organisation as it prepares to launch the new child maintenance scheme.’
A CMEC spokeswoman said: ‘The IT problems of the current CSA schemes are well documented. The new child maintenance scheme, which will be supported by a brand new IT system, will provide the long-term solution to this issue. This remains on track for launch next year.’
CMEC was ‘confident’ that the clerical caseload would not hit the move to the new maintenance scheme, she added.
