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Sir Bob Kerslake: Business case for universal credit not signed off by Treasury
The business case for universal credit has still not been fully signed off by the Treasury, the head of the civil service has revealed.
Sir Bob Kerslake told a parliamentary hearing that money was being drip fed to the project when it met ‘conditional reassurances’.
Source: Guzelian
The reform, which will merge six benefits into one direct payment, is the responsibility of the work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith.
But the National Audit Office criticised the roll-out of the scheme, which is being piloted in several projects nationwide, for ‘weak management, ineffective control and poor governance’.
After substantial and costly IT problems, Mr Duncan Smith announced in December that the reform would miss its target of 2017.
Speaking to the public accounts committee, Mr Kerslake said: ‘We shouldn’t beat about the bush: it hasn’t been signed off. What we’ve had is a set of conditional reassurances about progress and the Treasury have released money accordingly. That is one of the key controls.’
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions told the Guardian: ‘Universal credit is on track to roll out safely and securely against the plan set out last year – the new service is now available in 24 Job centres, and last week expanded to claims from couples.
‘The Treasury has been fully engaged in the rollout plan and have approved all funding to date.’
