Universal Credit benefits system hit by setbacks, confusion and delays costing taxpayers £34million

Tory Work Secretary Iain Duncan Smith’s flagship reform blunders follow his Bedroom Tax disaster, which costs more than it saves.

Clueless ministers have no idea how the new Universal Credit benefit system is meant to work. 

Tory Work Secretary Iain Duncan Smith’s flagship reform has been marred by setbacks, confusion and delays that have already cost taxpayers £34million, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found.

The blunders follow his Bedroom Tax disaster, which costs more than it saves.

He hailed the new system as a welfare state revolution but the 2017 deadline for introducing it across the country is in doubt, the National Audit Office warned.

The damning report follows years of Downing Street and Department for Work and Pensions denials that the project was in trouble.

They have repeatedly claimed that the policy was on time.

But the report says: “The source of many of the problems has been the absence of a detailed view of how Universal Credit is meant to work.”

Commons Public Accounts committee chief Margaret Hodge said: “Confusion and poor management at the highest levels have already resulted in delays and at least £34million wasted.

“If the Department doesn’t get its act together, we could be on course for yet another catastrophic IT failure.”

Universal Credit is supposed to replace almost all working-age benefits with a simpler system.

Ministers claim it will save £38billion in admin costs by 2023.

But repeated warnings that there was no detailed blueprint were ignored and its introduction has suffered “weak management, ineffective control and poor governance”, the audit office found.

The Government has spent more than £300million on IT to get the system up and running in trial areas.

But £34million-worth has had to be written off and the rest is not working properly.

The system can’t check for fraudulent claims, forcing staff to do it by hand.

But vowing to press ahead, a DWP spokeswoman said: “Under new leadership we are making real progress and we have a plan in place that is achievable and safe.”