EDS still working to fix Child Support IT "defects"

EDS is still working to resolve technical defects on the controversial and problematic £450m Child Support Agency (CSA) computer system but the government claims performance has improved and that service levels are now "generally being met".

The CSA system has been dogged by technical problems since its launch in March 2003 and was branded an "appalling waste of public money" by MPs who have called for it to be scrapped altogether.

The bugs have prevented cases being transferred from the old system to the new one and thousands of cases have required technical intervention to unlock them after becoming "stuck".

But Stephen Geraghty, head of the CSA, said in response to a parliamentary question this week that EDS is required to report progress against its plans and maintain records of IT problems and fixes delivered.

He said: "The new Child Support computer system [CS2] is now more stable technically and performance has improved to the point where service levels are generally being met.

"A number of defects do remain but EDS has agreed to resolve these as a part of an agreed forward programme of enhancement."

Geraghty also released a list of 12 major IT change requests made by the CSA to EDS over the past year.

These include requests to provide an automated facility within CS2 to allow staff to record additional information provided by clients in note form; the provision of functionality to support the bulk conversion of cases from the old scheme to the new scheme; and the capability to capture and record an audit trail of caseworkers' access to, and changes of, key data on CS2 client records.

The government said it will make an announcement "shortly" on the future of the CSA now that it has received a report on all aspects of the agency's operations from Geraghty.