Constant computer problems at the Child Maintenance Service are leading to parents being overcharged, placing them in desperate straits, a whistleblower said.
asserted
whistleblower → lead → straits
The caseworker said staff are ‘slamming their heads on keyboards’ at the ‘crazy’ IT glitches, and estimated up to one in five calculations are wrong.
It comes just months after a Daily Mail exposé found that at least two fathers have killed themselves and many are being ‘financially crippled’ by inflated demands from the government agency.
The whistleblower said: ‘We get quite a lot of complaints that calculations are incorrect and parents saying they have suicidal tendencies.’
Concerns are so severe that learning how to deal with suicidal callers is a ‘major part’ of training, including regular refresher courses, she added.
asserted
she → say → courses
But she said that even when staff know the calculations are wrong and that the parents cannot afford it, they are under strict orders to tell them to pay up.
asserted
they → say → them
‘As case workers, we tell the paying parent even if the payment schedule is wrong, they should keep paying it.
asserted
they → tell → it
‘It happens a lot and is sad, especially when they can’t afford it.
asserted
they → happen → it
All we can do is say to pay it...
asserted
we → do → it
That’s the policy we are given and have to stick to it.’
asserted
we → ’ → it
Constant computer problems at the Child Maintenance Service are leading to parents being overcharged, placing them in desperate straits, a whistleblower said
asserted
whistleblower → lead → straits
The whistleblower’s account tallies with evidence previously obtained by the Mail, including recordings of CMS staff admitting the computer system has gone ‘belly up’.
asserted
system → tally → staff
This newspaper also uncovered agency letters blaming incorrect payment demands on system problems, documents showing directors discussing IT issues, and parents receiving multiple payment demands for vastly different amounts in the same week or day.
asserted
directors → uncover → week
The failings have been compared to the Post Office Horizon scandal.
asserted
failings → compare → scandal
The whistleblower, who has been a CMS caseworker for over a year, said there were ‘many errors on the system’.
‘I have never seen such a poorly built system in my life,’ she said.
asserted
she → say → life
The CMS calculates how much a parent should pay to an ex-partner after a separation, based on their income and how many children they have.
asserted
they → calculate → children
When claims are first made, payment amounts are manually worked out by a caseworker and are usually correct because they go through several ‘checkers’, the source said.
uncertain
source → make → checkers
But problems can occur during subsequent automated calculations to update payments or generate an annual review.
asserted
problems → occur → review
‘Sometimes the system can f*** it up,’ she said.
asserted
she → f → it
‘Then it is the caseworker’s duty to fix it and sometimes these mistakes can be big.
asserted
mistakes → fix → it
‘In one case, the system generated £600 in arrears [for a parent] when they only had £100 to pay.
asserted
they → generate → 100
‘Everyone knows about these issues because we all have to deal with it on a daily basis.
asserted
we → know → basis
‘We are all so stressed out and I am sometimes slamming my head on the keyboard.
asserted
I → slam → keyboard
Another problem is that around every two months, IT upgrades, called Sprint, are implemented which ‘mess up’ everything.
asserted
which → call → everything
It can lead to miscalculations, the wrong letters going out, parents being unable to access their account and staff being unable to see updates, the whistleblower said, claiming: ‘When Sprint happens, the whole system goes crazy.’
asserted
system → lead → updates
Concerns about Sprint were one of several IT issues raised in minutes of meetings of CMS directors in 2018, obtained by the Mail through Freedom of Information requests.
asserted
Concerns → raise → requests
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which runs the CMS, said these were all rectified that year and never affected calculations of amounts owed.
asserted
these → run → amounts
As CMS stopped recording minutes of such meetings after 2018, that claim cannot be verified.
uncertain
claim → stop → 2018
The CMS IT system is also meant to check a paying parent’s income against the figures that the taxman holds.
asserted
taxman → mean → that
But the caseworker, who cannot be named because staff are barred from speaking publicly, described ‘many cases’ when the income figure the CMS had was different from HMRC’s, which she believed ‘must be an error’.
asserted
she → name → HMRC
Two parents who say they were overcharged maintenance also provided the Mail with recordings from CMS workers describing how the system had extracted the wrong data from HMRC.
asserted
system → say → HMRC
This newspaper was told by relatives of two fathers who took their own lives that they did so after struggling to pay ‘fictitious’ bills foisted on them by the CMS.
asserted
they → tell → CMS
Martin Cavanagh, from the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents CMS staff, said ‘poor, inflexible IT systems’ had compounded an already very complicated job.
asserted
systems → represent → job
The DWP said the CMS periodically undertakes system maintenance and upgrades.
asserted
CMS → say → maintenance
Its system is based on a parent’s income from HMRC data for the last full tax year, but parents can provide further information to change the calculation, it said.
asserted
it → base → calculation
The calculations were found to be 99 per cent accurate, based on the information it received, in figures analysed by the National Audit Office, it added.
asserted
it → find → Office
A DWP spokesman said: ‘More than 4,000 people work across the CMS in eight different locations, managing 810,000 child maintenance arrangements.
asserted
people → say → arrangements
‘Where we fall short, we take that seriously and we continue to modernise the service and improve how we work so that cases can be progressed more quickly and effectively.
asserted
cases → fall → service
‘We have no evidence of systemic IT faults which affect calculations...
asserted
which → affect → calculations
Any parent who disagrees with a decision has the right to challenge it.
asserted
who → disagree → it
‘Safeguarding is something we take very seriously, and our staff are trained to identify mental health risks and take action.
asserted
staff → take → action
For support, call Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org
'Both my children suffered while I was chased for £20,000 I didn't owe'
asserted
I → call → 20,000
A father-of-two was overcharged by more than £20,000 after the Child Maintenance Service overcalculated his income by £63,000 across five years.
asserted
Service → overcharge → years
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
