Work and Pensions - Third Report
Here you can browse the report together with the Proceedings of the Committee. The published report was ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 7 July 2004.
CONTENTS
Terms of Reference
Highlights
1 Introduction
2 Elements of
best practice
Unrealistic deadlines
Early discussions
Staffing issues
In-house expertise
Cultural change
Involving and gaining the support of staff
Commercially-off-the-shelf (COTS) vs bespoke
Breaking projects into smaller chunks
Contingency plans, including abandonment
3 DWP and Suppliers
What was wrong with using PFI?
Discouraged suppliers
Not amenable to best practice
The illusion of risk transfer
How competitive is the market?
Is competition increasing?
Is there scope for innovation?
Is there proper accountability?
4 Possible ways
of improving success
Bridging the gap between best practice
and the rest
Legislating for compliance with best practice
Publishing OGC Gateway Reviews
Publishing business cases
Publishing independent audits
Using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
5 Child Support
Reform (CSR)
Problems of the CSA's IT programme
The delay in the planned start of the system
Delay in converting old cases onto the new
scheme
Slow progress in processing new claims
"Stuck" cases
Defective telephony system
Summary of CSA's performance over its first
year
6 Assessment of
CSA's IT and telephony system
The scale of penalties
Time to abandon?
Was CSA's IT programme mis-sold to Parliament?
The case for more openness
7 Overall conclusion
Conclusions and recommendations
Formal Minutes
Annex 1: Inquiry
Annex 2: References
to the effect of inadequate IT on DWP's Operations and Effectiveness
(Identified in NAO and PAC Reports since Session 1999-2000)
Annex 3: The Department's
modernisation programme
Annex 4: Key IS/IT challenges as identified
by DWP's IT/IS Strategy - an outline
Annex 5: Business case
Annex 6: Measures in the contract with EDS
that offer legal protection for the Government
Witnesses
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
Monday 2 February 2004
Tuesday 10 February 2004
Monday 23 February 2004
Monday 1 March 2004
Monday 22 March 2004
Monday 29 March 2004
Monday 19 April 2004
WRITTEN EVIDENCE
List of written evidence
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