THE COMPUTERIZATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY: THE WAY FORWARD OR A STEP BACKWARDS?

The Department of Social Security is one of the largest government departments, consuming 30 percent of public spending and employing around 10 per cent of central government StJ. Before 1980 there were no computers in its local administrative centres. The Operational Strategy was a plan to change this, involving the construction of largescale computer systems and the installation of 40,000 terminals in 1,000 local offices and unemployment offices. It is the largest programme of computerization ever undertaken in Europe. Full national coverage is expected in 1991. But the project has been plagued with problems: costs have soared from £700m. to £2, CCXh-n. and rising, planned savings have fallen, expected benefits seem unlikely to be achieved and implementation errors have caught the public eye. What caused these problems and are they as serious as reports in the press might lead the public to believe? Computerization has the potential to make possible many far reaching changes to administrative functions and working practices. It is important to study the decisional implications of these changes before the computers themselves become embedded in the structure of the organization.