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| Universal credit benefits system 'in meltdown', claims Labour | Universal credit benefits system 'in meltdown', claims Labour |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Labour has claimed that the government's universal credit plans have hit serious problems and that work on the £500m IT delivery contract has been halted and hundreds of IT staff stepped down. | Labour has claimed that the government's universal credit plans have hit serious problems and that work on the £500m IT delivery contract has been halted and hundreds of IT staff stepped down. |
| The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) denied the claim and said the new head of the universal credit (UC) delivery system was in discussions with contractors. | The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) denied the claim and said the new head of the universal credit (UC) delivery system was in discussions with contractors. |
| Labour says senior sources among the five firms working on the IT contract have said work has been stopped. Although claims about IT difficulties have dogged the introduction of UC for nearly a year, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Liam Byrne, is convinced a huge new problem has emerged and is airing his concerns ahead of a debate on in the Commons on Wednesday. | Labour says senior sources among the five firms working on the IT contract have said work has been stopped. Although claims about IT difficulties have dogged the introduction of UC for nearly a year, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Liam Byrne, is convinced a huge new problem has emerged and is airing his concerns ahead of a debate on in the Commons on Wednesday. |
| His office says the DWP has made clear to the major contractors that hundreds of staff are no longer needed. | His office says the DWP has made clear to the major contractors that hundreds of staff are no longer needed. |
| There have been suggestions from some ministers that work might be taken in-house as a result of the discussions. | There have been suggestions from some ministers that work might be taken in-house as a result of the discussions. |
| Important figures, including the project chief, Malcolm Whitehouse, have already left the programme. | Important figures, including the project chief, Malcolm Whitehouse, have already left the programme. |
| The DWP hired David Pitchford as the interim chief executive of UC in February after the death of Philip Langsdale over Christmas. Pitchford, previously the executive director of the government's Major Projects Authority – which takes charge of all the government's major IT projects – has been recruited pending the appointment of a full-time replacement. | The DWP hired David Pitchford as the interim chief executive of UC in February after the death of Philip Langsdale over Christmas. Pitchford, previously the executive director of the government's Major Projects Authority – which takes charge of all the government's major IT projects – has been recruited pending the appointment of a full-time replacement. |
| The DWP said: "David Pitchford has been tasked with ensuring the smooth delivery of the universal credit and has been speaking to key suppliers. | |
| "Work on UC continues ahead of delivery in April and our plans for the October rollout have not changed." A spokesman added: "It's categorically not true to say that work has stopped on Universal Credit. All of our suppliers are working with us to deliver Universal Credit from April. Our plans have not changed." | |
| Labour said that DWP suggestions that there was no change to the contract were "wholly misleading". | Labour said that DWP suggestions that there was no change to the contract were "wholly misleading". |
| Accenture, one of the suppliers, refused to comment apart from saying it was a matter for the DWP. The IT consulting and outsourcing provider is to manage the subcontractors building the customer-facing component of the scheme. | |
| The principal subcontractor will be Atos, which Accenture chose for "its strong track record of successfully delivering IT services for the Department for Work and Pensions, and with a particular focus on delivering secure online citizen self-service applications", it said in a statement. | The principal subcontractor will be Atos, which Accenture chose for "its strong track record of successfully delivering IT services for the Department for Work and Pensions, and with a particular focus on delivering secure online citizen self-service applications", it said in a statement. |
| But Byrne said he had seen evidence that the reforms were in "meltdown". He said: "Universal credit has descended into universal chaos and millions of families' tax credits are at risk because ministers would not listen to clear and repeated warnings issued to them since November 2010." | But Byrne said he had seen evidence that the reforms were in "meltdown". He said: "Universal credit has descended into universal chaos and millions of families' tax credits are at risk because ministers would not listen to clear and repeated warnings issued to them since November 2010." |
| He added: "Iain Duncan Smith must now come before parliament and account for the incompetent mess his department has become. His Work Programme is worse than doing nothing, his bedroom tax hits soldiers but not prisoners, and now his flagship universal credit scheme is falling apart. | He added: "Iain Duncan Smith must now come before parliament and account for the incompetent mess his department has become. His Work Programme is worse than doing nothing, his bedroom tax hits soldiers but not prisoners, and now his flagship universal credit scheme is falling apart. |
| "We were promised universal credit would be the answer to all our prayers but now it has descended into one giant mess," he said. | "We were promised universal credit would be the answer to all our prayers but now it has descended into one giant mess," he said. |
| In a separate debate in the Commons on Tuesday, Duncan Smith again denied UC was experiencing IT problems. UC is due to start on 29 April with pilot projects in Ashton-under-Lyne, Oldham, Warrington and Wigan. The initial focus will be on a small number of jobseeker's allowance claims by single people in certain postcodes and then from October 2013 to March 2014 it will extend to cover all different types of claims across the country. | In a separate debate in the Commons on Tuesday, Duncan Smith again denied UC was experiencing IT problems. UC is due to start on 29 April with pilot projects in Ashton-under-Lyne, Oldham, Warrington and Wigan. The initial focus will be on a small number of jobseeker's allowance claims by single people in certain postcodes and then from October 2013 to March 2014 it will extend to cover all different types of claims across the country. |
| The DWP has announced that some of the initial north-west claims would be processed manually. | |
| UC will incorporate housing benefit and will be payable to those working full-time or part-time as well as the unemployed. | UC will incorporate housing benefit and will be payable to those working full-time or part-time as well as the unemployed. |