I have followed this thread closely, and have asked the Government what is happening. I received a reply yesterday:
Ministry of Defence: Joint Personnel Administration System
Lord Garden asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the performance of the Ministry of Defence joint personnel administration system; and [HL6073]
How many complaints have been made about errors in pay and allowances to the Ministry of Defence joint personnel administration system since it went live for the Royal Air Force on 20 March; and [HL6074]
When the Ministry of Defence joint personnel administration system is expected to be extended to the Army and the Royal Navy; and [HL6075]
What is the total cost of the contract for the Ministry of Defence joint personnel administration system. [HL6076]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): On 20 March 2006, the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency (AFPAA) rolled out joint personnel administration (JPA) to 48,000 RAF service personnel throughout the world, on time and on budget. The event marked the culmination of five years' system design, development, integration and testing and bears testimony to a very strong partnering agreement between MoD and EDS.
The current estimated total cost of the JPA project, including costs preceding full development and also its initial period of in-service operation through to the end of financial year 2008-09, covering both MoD and extramural costs, is £269 million. JPA is expected to deliver savings in excess of £100 million per year when fully in service.
On JPA rollout to the RAF, there were a number of technical issues which had not manifested in the extensive testing carried out prior to its launch. These resulted in the system operating much more slowly than anticipated which greatly restricted the number of self-service users at any one time. Over the course of the following six weeks these early problems were overcome and users have had access to the full system functionality since 18 May.
JPA performed satisfactorily on rollout to RAF professional HR administrators and has successfully delivered pay to the RAF with only relatively few discrepancies in the first month and many less in the second. Although the first few weeks following roll-out have resulted in a significant number of inquiries and requests for rectification of problems from individual users, as well as some 14 pieces of ministerial correspondence on behalf of constituents, as at 9 June there have been no formal grievances from individual users about JPA.
In order to ensure alignment of JPA with defence information infrastructure (future) programme requirements, current plans are that JPA will be rolled out to the RN from October 2006 and to the Army from March 2007.