Benefit payments delayed as council's IT system is in 'crisis'

Emails seen by the Watford Observer from a senior council figure criticises the Capita IT system used by Watford Borough Council and Three Rivers District Council.

The senior official said the system is slow and there are periods when the service fails and the system freezes.

The email goes on to say Watford is assessing the company’s performance on a set of criteria, including their basic performance, upgrades to infrastructure and desktops and how they deliver on upgrades to applications, including those which serve the Revenues and Benefits department.

Councillor David Sansom, from Three Rivers District Council, said the system "appeared to be in crisis" and was affecting some of the most important council services.

He said: "There are times when I can’t access documents and there are times when emails don’t work.

"We had one meeting where we were talking about the revenue and benefits and talking to them about their performance target and they said there were two days when the system was down.

"If you have got heads of departments saying they can’t meet their performance targets because the IT system is down for something as important as revenue and benefits, it is the most important thing Three Rivers does.

"This means people are having their benefits delayed and their lives are impacted. I think it is ridiculous."

In May 2013, both councils outsourced its IT service to Capita. The IT system is increasingly important for council-run services such as housing benefits, revenues and electoral services.

Watford has spent £7,037,482 on ICT in the past five years, including £2,222,846 in 2014/15, while, over the same period, Three Rivers spent £7,155,782 on IT.

In a statement, Watford said: "Watford Borough Council and Three Rivers District Council have a joint contract with Capita that delivers IT services for both councils.

"Any large scale contract of this complexity encounters issues and we are managing these robustly to ensure both councils’ IT systems are effective and support our day to day business activities.

"Service delivery to our residents remains our top priority and Capita is fully aware that we expect a first class service from them to achieve this.

"Capita is also aware of the service improvements that are needed to modernise our systems and that we have the right to take action under the contract if necessary.

"Both councils continue to support the need for future investment in our IT systems and the need to maintain a shared service across both authorities."

In a statement, Capita said: “We are working closely with both councils and are committed to providing a high level of service.

"The councils have acknowledged that a number of improvements have already been made and a plan has been agreed to ensure both councils’ IT systems support their day-to-day business activities.”