Social Security Scotland has extended its contract with IT services company Mphasis in a deal worth about £35.4 million. Announced on 6 October, the agreement covers support and maintenance for the core technology platform that runs devolved benefits in Scotland.
The system, known as Social Program Management (SPM), is the case management platform behind devolved social security benefits and financial assistance for around two million people in Scotland. It handles benefit applications, eligibility decisions and payments, covering forms of support that range from disability benefits to help with heating. From the moment an application is made to the point a payment is issued, each stage passes through the platform. Social Security Scotland is one of the largest executive agencies of the Scottish Government, and the platform is central to how that support reaches the people who are entitled to it.
Under the extension, Mphasis will be responsible for keeping the platform stable, resilient and reliable so that people can continue to access support without disruption. The work is also intended to improve the efficiency of day-to-day operations and to reduce the risk of disruption caused by major incidents. The contract therefore focuses on keeping an existing, heavily used system running smoothly rather than on building a new one, and covers the ongoing support and maintenance that a platform of this scale requires.
Ashish Devalekar, executive vice president and head of Europe at Mphasis, said in a statement on the company’s website that the ongoing relationship allowed the firm to keep supporting one of the country’s critical platforms. He said its commitment was to “maintain continuity, improve operational efficiency and deliver meaningful outcomes”. He added that the project fitted the company’s wider public sector focus on helping government organisations run secure, reliable and future-ready digital services, and that Mphasis was proud to help keep the system consistently available.
The deal strengthens the position of Mphasis, which is headquartered in Bengaluru, in the European public sector technology market, where it supports large-scale digital platforms that underpin services for citizens. Several details of the arrangement have not been made public, including the length of the extension, the value of the original contract and the specific terms agreed. The extension does, however, mean the same supplier will continue to look after the system on which Scotland’s devolved benefits depend.
