The introduction of Universal Credit
[ch 1: page 11]Universal Credit (UC) was originally due to be phased in over four years between 2013 and 2017, but it is running behind schedule.
By late January 2015 just 26,940 people were claiming the new benefit, fewer than 3% of the one million people the government forecast would be on it by April 2014. However, in February 2015, the DWP announced that more than 50,000 people had made a claim to UC; it was available in 96 Jobcentres, including all of the north-west, and was available to couples. It also reported that claims from families and lone parents were being taken in 32 sites. Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith announced the national roll-out of UC to all Jobcentres, in several tranches, between February 2015 and April 2016.
The public and commercial services PCS union says: “Universal Credit is the biggest overhaul of the benefits system in decades but PCS has grave concerns about how it is being implemented.”
It warns: “The current IT being used on UC is beset with problems, which is why management are currently developing a completely new IT system for UC. However the expansion of singles claims across the country is going to be done using the current IT despite its many problems. PCS fears that the IT will not be able to support the large expansion of UC claims and may be a recipe for disaster.”