Universal credit progress update
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The Department for Work and Pensions is introducing Universal Credit which will replace 6 means-tested benefits for working-age households. It expects Universal Credit to encourage people to work through: better financial incentives; simpler processes; and clearer job search requirements. Universal Credit is a highly ambitious and challenging transformation programme. In February 2013, the Major Projects Authority expressed serious concerns in its project assessment review, leading to a reset of the Universal Credit programme between February and May 2013. The Committee first reported on the programme in November 2013. The Committee raised concerns about a lack of a comprehensive plan for delivering the changes and an absence of financial and other internal controls. Given the difficulties the programme had already faced, the Committee strongly recommended that the Department focus more on delivering the programme successfully than on meeting any specific timetable. This follow-up inquiry will allow the Committee to assess progress Universal Credit has made to date, to understand the costs and risks of Universal Credit, and to ensure transparency about the milestones and timescales for the programme. Further information National Audit Office report: Universal credit: progress update Chair's statement: Universal credit progress update”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
The Department for Work & Pensions has spent £700 million on Universal Credit since the programme began in 2010. Very little progress has been achieved on the front line with fewer than 18,000 people claiming it by October 2014, although the Department expects this to rise significantly by February 2016. The Department ‘reset’ the programme in early 2013 following a Major Projects Authority review which expressed serious concerns about the programme lacking detailed plans, and it has now put Universal Credit on a sounder footing. HM Treasury has approved the ‘strategic outline business case’, the first of three stages in developing a full business case for the programme. The Department has adopted a “twin track” approach which it expects will bring forward the anticipated benefits of the programme compared to waiting until the long term systems are ready and which should allow the Department to implement a contingency plan at later date. The twin-track approach is complicated, as the Department is running two separate systems in parallel. In the short term, the Department is using IT systems developed before the reset to accept simple claims in an increasing number of locations. At the same time, it is developing and testing a new digital service, which it intends will deliver Universal Credit to all types of claimant in the long term. Since the reset, the Department has already fallen a further six months behind schedule for developing the digital service.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 5 November 2014 to its close on 26 March 2015.
- Oral evidence 10 Dec 2014
- Report 25 Feb 2015
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 42nd Report - Universal Credit: progress update ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 10 Dec 2014No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗