Chris Bryant MP, Labour’s Shadow Welfare Reform Minister, responding to new Universal Credit figures published today, said:
“These figures show fewer than 18,000 people are claiming Universal Credit, 18 months after it launched. That’s 982,000 fewer than the million people Iain Duncan Smith promised would be claiming Universal Credit by April 2014. At this rate it will take centuries to roll out Universal Credit across the country.
“The government has wasted over £130 million of taxpayers’ money on failed IT. Ministers must urgently get a grip of the spiralling waste and endless delays to this £12.8 billion programme.
“A Labour government will call in the National Audit Office to urgently review Universal Credit to see what can be salvaged from the shambles which David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith have left.”
Graph showing how Universal Credit has ground to a halt – projected Universal Credit caseload versus actual Universal Credit Caseload:
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368805/uc-at-work.pdf and http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/10132-001-Universal-credit.pdf
