MPs have slammed the Department of Work and Pensions for
using "inadequate information technology systems'' which have
allowed benefit fraudsters to rip off the taxpayer by around £2bn a
year.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee had demanded a
stepping up of action on the issue, saying the department has "lost
momentum in reducing this unacceptable level of fraud''.
In a report on "Tackling Benefit Fraud'', the all-party group
says, "The department's inadequate information technology systems
are a further constraint in tackling fraud. Benefit data are held
in 20 separate systems with no common access point to all the
systems. Consequently staff cannot readily detect incorrect
information supplied by customers. The systems also rely on
clerical interventions in the calculation of benefits.
"Problems previously encountered in delivering new IT systems
had persuaded the department not to aim for 'big bang' replacement
of their main Income Support and other existing computer systems.
Instead, they would be making incremental improvements over the
next three years, which they expected to bring benefits in
eradicating error.
"They were also approaching IT architecture differently, seeking
to strengthen the links between the main Income Support/Jobseeker's
Allowance system and other systems."
The PAC said the department will step up cross-checking and data
matching of benefits to stop people getting extra money by failing
to declare other benefits.
The department hoped that projects under way would provide
automatic cross-checking between different benefits. An integrated
electronic information gathering system for new and repeat claims
for the main working age benefits and associated claims on other
benefits was planned for this autumn.
This would signal information on customers already held on
departmental systems automatically. A single record for each
customer, showing benefit awards and payments, which the department
planned to introduce in 2004, would later include household data
and help to tackle fraud associated with living together as husband
and wife.
The PAC report said:" Information technology improvements were
expected to deliver roughly one third of the further fraud
reduction required by 2006."