Secret report reveals ‘real danger’ to welfare reform

The plan to create a new Universal Credit welfare system by 2013 is considered to have a number of problems and risks, which have been highlighted in a report by commercial experts working for the Treasury and Cabinet Office.

The Daily Telegraph has seen a copy of MPA’s initial report on Universal Credit, completed earlier this year. The 14-page report is marked PROTECT to indicate a sensitive internal document.

The Daily Telegraph have reported that plans to shrink and reorganise the Department for Work and Pensions could jeopardise welfare reform.

“There is a very real danger that due to a number of factors, including restructuring, headcount reductions, and uncertainty about the delivery model, the department may lose some of the expertise that it will need in order to deliver Universal Credit successfully,” it says.

The MPA felt that this risk was being “managed at this stage”. But the report concluded that in future, “this risk will need more focus.”

The Daily Telegraph yesterday revealed that the welfare reform project has risen to the top of the Treasury’s warning list of major public sector projects at risk of delay and overspend.

For the full The Telegraph article click here

Amanda Frewin

Research & Project Support