Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

The programme update (B_-_UCPB_27.10.20_-1-_Programme_Update.pdf) by Neil Couling deposited on 18 October 2022 raised the issue of “technical debt” emerging in the UC system. He states that he should have had a plan in place to resolve the problem by Christmas 2020.

RFI1: Please disclose the plan referenced by Neil Couling in paragraph 13 of B_-_UCPB_27.10.20_-1-_Programme_Update.pdf

Typically, I would expect any such plan to include measures/metrics that quantifies the extent of the problem and are used to show that the plan is having the desired effect.

RFI2: For the period 2021, Please disclose the measures/metrics used to quantify the “technical debt” and demonstrates that the plan had the desired effect.

Yours faithfully,

John Slater

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'UC Programme System - "Technical Debt" Plan & Measures/Metrics'.

Thank you for your response. However, I’m confused. In response to RFI1 the Department states that there was no actual plan but then goes on to say there was a plan as it was part of the wider phase planning process. The Department then explains details would be reflected in future releases of UC Programme Board papers.

As there clearly is a plan it falls within the scope of my request and should be disclosed.

In respect of RFI2 I do not accept the premise upon which the response is based. Someone must have told Mr Couling that there was a problem with Technical Debt. To do this the problem would have had to be quantified. This quantification clearly falls with the scope of my request. As the Department stated a plan does exist and has been reported to the UC Programme Board I suggest it is highly unlikely that metrics quantifying the Technical Debt were not produced. I would go far as to say it would be unprofessional not to have measures that quantified the problem and measured improvement following the application of the plan.
I ask that the Department think again.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/u...

Yours faithfully,

John Slater