The government has awarded a £54.7m contract to
Tata Consultancy Services for IT systems to support the new UK
child maintenance scheme.
The scheme, developed by the
Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, will replace two
schemes run by the Child Support Agency.
Many complaints against the existing schemes are the result of
the limitations of underlying IT systems, said Child Maintenance
Commissioner Stephen Geraghty.
Indian outsourcing supplier Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),
which
acquired rival Citigroup Global Services for £300m last year,
was selected from a shortlist of three companies.
TCS will integrate several proven software applications to
support the future child maintenance payment scheme.
The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission opted for
standard software applications to avoid pitfalls like budget
over-runs and inefficiency associated with single, purpose-built IT
systems.
"In learning the lessons from the past we will not attempt to
re-invent the wheel," said Stephen Geraghty.
The collection and payment of child maintenance, he said, is
very similar to millions of transactions performed every day by
financial organisations around the world.
"We want to draw on that technical expertise and provide future
child maintenance clients the kind of service they should expect,"
said Geraghty.
The future payment scheme is designed to give users online
access to information about their case, such as how much they owe
or are due to receive.
TCS will provide the underlying IT systems by integrating
software applications for case management and assessment, payment
calculation and scheduling and financial management.
Software applications will include Oracle's Siebel customer
relationship management system and the TCS BαNCS banking
software.
Other software will be sourced from Experian, Genysys, IBM and
Oracle.
The Commission, which took control of the Child Support Agency
(CSA) in November 2008, plans to have the new scheme up and running
by 2011.
The scheme will run alongside existing schemes that will be
phased out gradually by 2014.
"We will not be rushed into it. The lessons are clear," said
Geraghty.
No cases would be migrated from the older systems. Those taking
part in the schemes will have to apply to join the new scheme, he
said.