Reblogged from Benefit tales:
Universal credit has already cost the taxpayer
£425 million, with industry insiders predicting that much of this
will have to be written off because the IT project has been so poorly
administered and led. The entire scheme has been judged to be ‘in crisis’ by the
treasury. The National Audit Office has recently reported that millions of IT
costs have ALREADY been written off.
The scheme was due to be implemented in October
2013, but so far has only been implemented in a handful of test areas. Early
reports back from these say that the system is too complicated for over half of
claimants to understand without additional support, and that because of
inadequacies in the system everything has to be checked by hand. Users report
that the system is not able to track any change in circumstances of the
claimants, not much use for people in and out of short term work, or on variable
or zero hours contracts.
Yet Department for Work and Pensions has
reiterated that the system will be delivered ‘on time and within
budget.’
Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord Freud,
said: “We are introducing Universal Credit in a slow, safe and controlled
way. This careful approach is working well and we’re in a strong position as we
bring Universal Credit to Inverness and Rugby for the first time. Most people
are claiming it online, the IT is working and comprehensive support is in
place.”
In the first pilot area in which the scheme was
rolled out, Ashton Under Lyme, it was reported
that “78% of claimants needed help filling in the forms for relatively
straightforward claims. The pilot schemes are not even attempting to deal with
people with complex personal circumstances.” And if Universal credit was on
time, it would have been rolled out nationwide as scheduled in October
2013.
I’m not sure who the Government thinks it is
fooling, except perhaps themselves.
