To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which companies (a) were involved in designing and (b) are involved in maintaining the technology programmes used to manage (i) the Employment and Support Allowance, (ii) the transition from Incapacity Benefit to the Employment and Support Allowance and (iii) National Insurance credits for Employment and Support Allowance claimants.
Answered on
22 February 2024
The following companies were involved alongside DWP in the design and maintenance of (i) Employment and Support Allowance, (ii) the transition from Incapacity Benefit to the Employment and Support Allowance and (iii) National Insurance credits for Employment and Support.
The Employment and Support allowance (ESA) service was initially designed by Electronic Data Systems (EDS) who later became Hewlett Packard Enterprise Systems (HPES) in August 2008, working with DWP to implement it.
HPES continued to maintain and support ESA until 2016 when the Government company BPDTS Ltd (Benefits and Pensions Digital Technology Services) was established to provide digital technology services to the DWP. The Company’s employees were public servants who provided a full range of digital technology services to DWP. BPDTS was formally classified as a non-departmental public body. BPDTS colleagues were subsequently transferred into DWP in 2021.
The ESA benefit is now developed and maintained by an in-house DWP team.