Universal Credit – A Programme In Recovery?

A new report from the Institute for Government judges that Universal Credit is now in recovery. A mere 300,000 or so households are receiving it. Serious challenges remain, not least transferring the huge numbers still on tax credits to the new system and ensuring that the most vulnerable, who include people with disabilities and long-term health problems, are able to cope. But many years later than originally planned, something that is recognisable as Universal Credit now looks likely to make it to the finish line. The report charts Universal Credit’s troubled history, which includes an utterly unrealistic initial timetable and the fact that the DWP started to build this hugely ambitious benefit reform before it had defined what it would look like and how it would work. Download the report from the Institute for Government website.