Universal Credit: Government Told Roll-Out Plans ‘Not Credible’

The Government has been warned that their plan to see Universal Credit implemented within five years is not “credible”. Lord Freud, who was being questioned by MPs on the Work and Pensions Parliamentary Select Committee, said he wants seven million people receiving UC by the “end of 2020” – despite only 146,000 people being on the system to date. He argued the project was following an “S-curve”, which meant a “careful start, big ramp, and then a tail at the end”. Labour’s Steve McCabe said: “If we’re at 146,000 and we’re at the bottom of the S as it begins to rise, and you want to get to 7 million by May 2020, that would suggest by any standard you’ve got to be near 3 million in less than 18 months time. You’ve got to have a massive escalation at some point. How is that credible?”  Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.