Government ministers have admitted in a series of parliamentary answers that Universal Credit could cost an additional £1.25 billion. The figures were revealed in parliamentary answers to shadow Work and Pensions minister, Chris Bryant MP.  

Ministers have failed to decide how a range of entitlements (passported benefits) from free school meals to cold weather payments will work alongside Universal Credit. This threatens huge additional costs including: 

• An extra £750 million to fund Free School Meals;
• An extra £320 million to fund additional Cold Weather Payments;
• An extra £190 million to fund additional free milk, fruit and vegetables under the government’s Healthy Start scheme 

Rachel Reeves MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said:  “The failure of government ministers to decide how Universal Credit will work with Free School Meals and Cold Weather Payments threatens to cost taxpayers £1.25 billion. 

“Sadly this is another example of how the government has completely lost control of Universal Credit. Millions of pounds of taxpayers money have been written off. And Iain Duncan Smith promised one million people would be on Universal Credit this year but there are  fewer than 12,000 on the new benefit. Yet ministers continue to claim that universal credit  is ‘on time and on budget’. 

“I have written to the Prime Minister to urge him to get a grip on this latest Universal Credit fiasco which threatens to land hard-pressed taxpayers with a huge bill.”