Government ‘Unacceptably Complacent’ In Tackling Homelessness

The cross-party committee of MPs said the CLG’s “limited action” has “lacked the urgency that is so badly needed and its ‘light touch’ approach to working with the local authorities has clearly failed”. The PAC said the CLG is placing “great reliance” on the Homelessness Reduction Act, which comes into force in April next year, to provide the solution to homelessness and while this legislation “will no doubt help”, it cannot be successful unless the government also increases housing supply and makes homes more affordable. The latest government statistics showed there are 79,190 households in temporary accommodation, a 65% jump since 2010. Read more on Inside Housing.

A Low Score For Universal Credit

Universal credit, which amalgamates six welfare benefits, still has cross-party support, despite being beset by delays and fears that it will fail to meet its main objective of encouraging people to work The most ambitious welfare reform for decades was bound to take a while to get right. But did the introduction of universal credit really need to take this long? By the time it is rolled out in job centres across the country over the next 18 months, UC will already have been more than five years in the making. The latest estimate is that some claimants will not switch to UC until 2022. The most recent delay was announced in July by Damian Green, the new work and pensions secretary, and the third person to hold the post this year. Read more on the Public Finance website.

Councils Urge Clark To Resolve Housing Bill Problems

Council leaders have warned the communities secretary that the flagship housing bill could result in developments without schools and hospitals unless changes are made. A cross-party group of council leaders warned Greg Clark that there are “unintended consequences for local authorities and inconsistencies” that will result from the housing and planning bill. The delegation, led by the Local Government Association’s chairman Lord Gary Porter, said they could not fund the creation of the new schools, hospitals and roads needed to meet the government’s demand for new homes. The main concerns for councils are contained in a briefing paper that highlighted the exemptions for developers from housing and infrastructure contributions as a key issue. Read more on 24dash.

Cuts May Undermine Work Incentives in Universal Credit

A cross-party review of universal credit is being launched amid new evidence that funding for the project has been cut so severely that its original aim to provide incentives for people to get into work could be undermined. Technology flaws, implementation delays and Whitehall infighting have led to deep cynicism about the scheme, which is due to be fully implemented in 2017-18 covering as many as 8 million households. Many critics claim the scheme is dead, but although Labour has been fiercely critical of the way in which universal credit has been implemented, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Rachel Reeves, has not yet said she would scrap the reforms. The expert review, to be chaired by the welfare expert Nicholas Timmins, is being launched by the Resolution Foundation and will focus on structural redesigns that may be required to restore work incentives. Read more on the Resolution Foundation website.

DWP Slammed For 'Shocking Lack of Financial Control' On Universal Credit

A ‘good news only’ culture masked a ‘shocking lack of financial control’ of the government’s Universal Credit programme, as it emerged £140 million has been wasted on IT systems that cannot be used. This is the damning view of a cross-party committee, which slammed the DWP for ‘extraordinarily poor management’ over the flagship welfare reform which rolls several benefits into one single payment made direct to claimants.  The report says £140 million spent on IT assets will have to be written off, as they are unsuitable for use in the programme. A DWP spokesperson said it expects this to be substantially lower. Control over suppliers was ‘shocking’, with personal assistants signing off on multi-million purchase orders and individual payments that could not be linked to work delivered, the committee claimed. Download a copy of the report from the Parliament website.