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McVey criticised by NAO chief for ‘incorrect’ statements on Universal Credit
The head of the National Audit Office (NAO) has criticised the minister responsible for Universal Credit for making “incorrect” statements in parliament.
Work and pensions secretary criticised by NAO chief for “incorrect” statements on UC #ukhousingIn an open letter to work and pensions secretary Esther McVey, auditor general Sir Amyas Morse said he was “reluctantly” writing after he had been unable to meet with her to “clarify the facts”.
A recent NAO report found that Universal Credit had not delivered value for money and it is uncertain if it ever will, and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) officials had dismissed evidence of hardship faced by Universal Credit claimants.
Speaking in parliament recently in response to the report, Ms McVey said it was “unfortunate” that the NAO “was unable to take into account the significant changes recently implemented in Universal Credit”.
“Those changes address many of the concerns raised in its report,” she added.
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However, in his letter Sir Amyas said the NAO report was “fully agreed” with senior DWP officials and is based on “the most accurate and up-to-date information from your department”.
He said the report was agreed with the DWP on 8 June and added it was “odd” that one week later “you felt able to say that the NAO ‘did not take into account the impact of our recent changes’”.
Sir Amyas said Ms McVey “reiterated these statements on 2 July but we have seen no evidence of such impacts nor fresh information”.
He also said that the work and pensions secretary’s statement that the NAO was concerned about Universal Credit “rolling out too slowly” and needs to “continue at a faster rate” was “also not correct”.
He added: “While we recognise regrettable early delays to Universal Credit, my recommendation made clearly on page 11 of the report is that the department must now ensure it is ready before it starts to transfer people over from previous benefits.”
Speaking in parliament today, Ms McVey apologised for “mistakenly” claiming that the NAO wanted the roll-out of the policy to speed up, but said she “still maintains this is the case” on the issue of the report not covering recent updates.
Sir Amyas also said Ms McVey’s statement in parliament that Universal Credit is working “has not been proven” because the DWP has not measured how many Universal Credit claimants “are having difficulties and hardship”.
He added: “What we do know from the department’s surveys is that although 83% of claimants responding said they were satisfied with the department’s customer service, 40% of them said they were experiencing financial difficulties, and 25% said they couldn’t make an online claim.”
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