Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, responding to Iain Duncan Smith’s appearance before the Work and Pensions Select Committee, said:

“Iain Duncan Smith urgently needs to come to Parliament and explain exactly what has gone wrong with Universal Credit.

“His appearance before the Work and Pensions committee has only added to the mounting crisis over his flagship policy. The Department has now confirmed that millions of pounds of taxpayers money has already been written off, the repeated claim that Universal Credit would be ‘digital by default’ has been totally abandoned and the 2017 deadline will be missed.

"The hearing also confirmed that the Treasury has not yet signed off the Department’s plans.  Before they do so, David Cameron needs to urgently get a grip of Universal Credit to ensure there are no further delays to this scheme and not a penny more is wasted.”