DWP Has Made 'Little Progress on Universal Credit'

Little progress has been made on the roll-out of universal credit with just 0.3% of the eligible population receiving it by October last year, concludes a damning new report. This is despite the £700m spent on the programme since it began in 2010, says the government’s spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Fewer than 18,000 people were claiming universal credit by October 2014, the committee report explains, out of about seven million expected in the longer term. The watchdog was also critical of the IT infrastructure for the programme, which it says is of ‘particular concern’. It has cost the DWP £344m so far to develop its ‘live’ service systems for claimants. Download the report from the Parliament website.