Labour has today called for David Cameron to take responsibility for the developing chaos at the Department for Work and Pensions and address unanswered questions about the design and delivery of his flagship welfare reform, Universal Credit.

In a joint letter sent to the Prime Minister, Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Chris Bryant MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform, express serious concerns about the way the project is being implemented and set out a serious of critical questions that they say the Prime Minister needs to answer.

Rachel Reeves MP said:

“David Cameron needs to start taking responsibility for this fiasco unfolding under his watch. Despite repeated warnings that Universal Credit had not been thought through properly and that costs were getting out of control, we were promised again and again that it would be delivered on time and on budget.

“But after the NAO revealed last month that already £34 million spent on this project is effectively money down the drain, we now learn that the only options on the table involve millions more being committed with no certainty of when or whether this project will ever be properly rolled out. This is scandalous mismanagement of taxpayers’ money.

“David Cameron has serious questions to answer about how he has allowed things to get to this stage and how his complacent, incompetent and out-of-touch government has wasted scandalous amounts of money on a half-baked plan IT now can’t deliver.”

The full text of the letter is below:

Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
1 November 2013

Universal Credit

Dear Prime Minister

Following reports in today’s press, we are writing to express serious concerns about the way in which Universal Credit is being implemented.

In September the National Audit Office stated that your Government has already “delayed rolling out Universal Credit nationally”. The expected roll-out to all new claimants across the country which was meant to occur last month hasn’t happened and £34 million of IT costs have already been written off. Despite this, the Secretary of State continues to claim the roll out of this important reform will be “on time and within budget”.

Today we have heard that the options the Government are now considering involve further expenditure write-offs and millions more of taxpayers’ money being spent with no certainty of when or whether this project will ever be properly rolled out.

Given the vital importance to the public of getting this welfare reform right and the vast sums of taxpayers’ money at stake there is a clear public interest in understanding exactly what is going on. Despite repeated requests in Parliament Ministers are failing to give adequate answers to basic questions about Universal Credit’s design and delivery. For this reason we would be grateful if you could address some of the major areas of concern.

Today’s reports suggest that one option being considered by your Government involves write down costs of £119 million with further running costs of £96 million, at a time when budgets are already significantly squeezed. Please could you confirm:

1. What is the total amount of IT assets the Government expects to be written off?

2. What is the total additional cost of the plans that will be outlined in the reset?

3. What other options had been considered for the reset, and how much did they cost?

The initial timetable set out by the Department for Work and Pensions said that from last month new claims for out-of-work benefits would be for Universal Credit and that no new JSA, ESA, Income Support and Housing Benefit claims would be accepted, while by April 2014 no new claims would be made for tax credits. This poses several questions:

4. When will all new claims for out-of-work benefits be for Universal Credit across the country?

5. At what date will no new claims be made for tax credits across the country?

Ministers initially said that a million people would be on Universal Credit by April 2014 but the ‘national roll out’ so far only involves 10 jobcentres:

6. When will Universal Credit be available in every jobcentre in the UK?

7. How many people will be on Universal Credit by April 2014?

8. How many working people will be claiming Universal Credit in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017?

In August the Minister for Welfare Reform wrote to Local Authority Chief Executives to confirm that the six new jobcentres involved in the rollout would only begin to accept new claims from “unemployed single claimants”:

9. When will claimants with families be able to claim Universal Credit?

Finally, those families with children face even greater uncertainty. Three and a half years after Labour first raised the issue, Ministers have confirmed that they have “not yet made final decisions on what the entitlement criteria for free school meals under Universal Credit will be.” The lack of progress on this issue is extremely alarming and must be addressed as soon as possible:

10. When will Ministers set out how Universal Credit will interact with passported benefits, including free school meals?

Labour is supportive of the principle of Universal Credit but it is imperative that its implementation is carried out carefully and effectively. However, what we have seen is an ongoing waste of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and ongoing delays creating huge uncertainties for families. Combined with a complete lack of clarity on the timetable from your Government, this is also undermining public confidence in this project as a whole. It is essential that these vital questions are addressed as quickly as possible.

We look forward to your response.

Rachel Reeves MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Chris Bryant MP
Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform