Iain Duncan Smith should approach the reform of Britain’s benefit system with “trepidation” as the Government has a poor record at introducing such radical projects, a former Social Security minister has warned.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary Photo: Geoff Pugh
Yesterday, the Government announced that it was scaling back a pilot scheme to introduce Universal Credit. Just one Job Centre will now launch the new benefit next week sparking speculation that the flagship project was “in chaos”.
Universal credit involves merging dozens of different out-of-work benefits into a single payment which is designed to incentivise work. It is due to be rolled out nationally over the next few years, which will present a major IT challenge as several Government computer systems are merged.
In an interview with the BBC, Peter Lilley, the former Conservative Social Security Secretary, said that Mr Duncan Smith was right to approach the scheme with a series of cautious pilots.
“I’m not sure what problems if any there are, but I think Iain Duncan Smith was very wise to pilot this first and the point of pilots is to find mistakes and problems and issues and deal with them. If he wasn’t doing so then we ought to be worried,” he said
Mr Lilley added: “His job is to get this right, one has to approach any of these major things with some trepidation because the track record of government is not very good in these areas.”
However, Dame Anne Begg, the chairman of the House of Commons’ Work and Pensions select committee, said that the scaled-down pilots could suggest “serious” problems with the Universal Credit scheme.
“It’s gradually being slowed down,” she said. “In one way I’m pleased about that because I’d rather it was slowed down and the Government got the design correct, rather than going ahead foolhardedly and, as a result, people with very little money got no money.
“So, part of me is pleased that they are taking their time, but the other part wonders if there are serious design flaws that are now presenting themselves.
“The timescale for learning the lessons and changing the procedures was always very tight anyway so we could be looking at quite a long delay before it gets properly rolled out.”
Labour said that Universal Credit was on the brink.
Liam Byrne, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “This is yet another embarrassing setback for Universal Credit.
“The scheme is already late and over-budget and in spite of earlier promises Ministers have admitted that they have no idea when out of work claimants will move over to Universal Credit. This scheme is now on the edge of disaster. Ministers must admit this project is in crisis and start to fix it now – before millions of families tax credits are put at risk.”
Four job centres in north-west England were due to start running the new system. But the Department for Work and Pensions has said that only one of them, in Ashton-under-Lyne, will now be accepting claims.
The others will test some of the computer systems that will be needed, before accepting claims from July. Universal credit is supposed to be available nationwide in October.
Sources close to Mr Duncan Smith rejected the claim that the scheme was in chaos, saying that Labour was “desperate for universal credit to fail”. The DWP insisted that the programme was still on course.
The Work and Pensions Secretary is understood to be receiving daily updates on the implementation of the programme and Whitehall’s top trouble-shooter has been drafted in to oversee the scheme.
“It’s gradually being slowed down,” she said. “In one way I’m pleased about that because I’d rather it was slowed down and the Government got the design correct, rather than going ahead foolhardedly and, as a result, people with very little money got no money.
“So, part of me is pleased that they are taking their time, but the other part wonders if there are serious design flaws that are now presenting themselves.
“The timescale for learning the lessons and changing the procedures was always very tight anyway so we could be looking at quite a long delay before it gets properly rolled out.”
Labour said that Universal Credit was on the brink.
Liam Byrne, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “This is yet another embarrassing setback for Universal Credit.
“The scheme is already late and over-budget and in spite of earlier promises Ministers have admitted that they have no idea when out of work claimants will move over to Universal Credit. This scheme is now on the edge of disaster. Ministers must admit this project is in crisis and start to fix it now – before millions of families tax credits are put at risk.”
Four job centres in north-west England were due to start running the new system. But the Department for Work and Pensions has said that only one of them, in Ashton-under-Lyne, will now be accepting claims.
The others will test some of the computer systems that will be needed, before accepting claims from July. Universal credit is supposed to be available nationwide in October.
Sources close to Mr Duncan Smith rejected the claim that the scheme was in chaos, saying that Labour was “desperate for universal credit to fail”. The DWP insisted that the programme was still on course.
The Work and Pensions Secretary is understood to be receiving daily updates on the implementation of the programme and Whitehall’s top trouble-shooter has been drafted in to oversee the scheme.
Telegraph
