By John Oates, 10 September 1998 17:44
NEWS The UK Department of Social Services (DSS) is facing a painful few months after the collapse of its computerised database of National Insurance Records (NIR). The migration of records to a client server system supplied by Andersen Consulting is the cause of the problem. If unresolved, it leaves the agency at serious risk of fraud. All benefit payments based on National Insurance contributions have been affected. A spokesman for the DSS said: "Only 20 per cent of new claims are affected - we are settling those by making interim payments." In a statement, the DSS admitted that the contract with Andersens had to be re-negotiated in 1996 because it could not be delivered on time. However it claimed that the "vast majority [of problems] have been resolved". Andersen Consulting refused to comment.
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