You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
McVey: Universal Credit is ‘great British innovation’
Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey has hailed Universal Credit as a “great British innovation”, a week after the National Audit Office warned it would never deliver value for money.
In a speech to Parliament yesterday, Ms McVey said a number of countries had met with the UK to “watch and learn about the next generation of benefit system”.
A National Audit Office (NAO) report last week warned that Universal Credit had not delivered value for money. The system – which replaces six means-tested benefits – currently costs £699 per claim, some four times as much as the government intends it to cost when fully developed, according to the watchdog report.
READ MORE
Local and national bodies, as well as claimants, showed the NAO evidence of people suffering hardship during the roll-out of Universal Credit. The watchdog said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had found it difficult to identify and track those deemed vulnerable.
But Ms McVey said Universal Credit would be a “tailor-made system, based on the individual”.
“This is a unique example of great British innovation,” she added. “We are leading the world in developing this kind of system. Countries like New Zealand, Spain, France and Canada have met with us to see Universal Credit, to watch and learn about the next generation of benefit system.”
Universal Credit was introduced with the aim of encouraging more people into work, reducing fraud and error, and slashing the cost of administering benefits.
The government started work on the system in 2010 with an original completion date of October 2017 – but this has now slipped to March 2023 because of early issues with the roll-out.
Ms McVey insisted the cost per claim had been reduced by 7% since March this year, and was due to fall further to £173 by 2025. “This is around £50 less per claim than legacy cases currently cost us to process,” she said.
The minister added that 83% of Universal Credit claimants were happy with the service they received.
“We are building an agile, adaptable system, fit for the 21st century,” she said.
“We want people to reach their potential, regardless of their circumstances or background – and we will make changes when required, in order to achieve this ambition.”
Click here to read sector leaders’ suggestions on how to change Universal Credit
