Universal Credit Costs Leap by More Than 20% to £15.8bn

The total lifetime cost of the Universal Credit welfare reform programme has increased by nearly £3bn in the past three years to £15.8bn, according to figures from the government’s Major Projects Authority (MPA). The last time the DWP calculated an official cost estimate for the whole project, in 2012, it was £12.85bn. But the latest annual report from the MPA shows that, as of September 2014 when the report was compiled, the cost is now expected to be more than 20% higher. Since the 2012 estimate, DWP has been forced to tear up its original plans for the troubled programme, writing off millions of pounds in scrapped IT development and revising the timetable for roll-out. That process, labelled as a “reset” in 2014’s MPA report, allowed the revised lifetime costs to remain under wraps until now. Read more on the Computer Weekly website.