Universal credit not the solution to delivery problems report finds

• Report: Benefit delivery
• Report: Benefit delivery (PDF 728KB)
• Inquiry: Benefit delivery
• Work and Pensions Committee

Over the last five years, the Department has undertaken a series of ambitious reforms to the welfare system against a backdrop of cuts to its administration and programme funding. The Department expects Universal Credit to simplify the benefit system, but it will not be fully implemented for several years and has already been subject to repeated delays.

Committee findings

The Committee says:

• It has been difficult to hold DWP to account on benefit delays because of a lack of available data. DWP should immediately produce at least ESA Work Capability Assessment and Mandatory Reconsideration clearance time statistics, and Short-Term Benefit Advance application statistics.
• If DWP has the data on benefit delays, it should publish them now. If it does not have this data, Government is making policy decisions in the dark.
• DWP should immediately set a target for reducing underpayments, which can have an enormous impact on claimants and their ability to pay for essentials, especially since it has had a target for reducing overpayments since 2010
• The DWP expects Universal Credit, its flagship reform, to simplify the benefit system and make it less open to mistakes. However this inquiry has flagged up the limitations to Universal Credit in improving benefit delivery, including the impact of "built-in delays" to a claimant's initial payment.
• At any rate, Universal Credit will not be fully implemented for several years and it has already been subject to repeated delays. Until it is fully implemented, DWP must not neglect the delivery of "legacy benefits", which some claimants will receive for at least another 6 years.
• The processes and guidance designed to help particularly vulnerable claimants are not working as they should, and are not enough to prevent claimants falling into debt.
• DWP's recent guidance for refugees has been welcomed and the Department should now look to build on it using local transition guides. In addition, DWP should investigate the "move-on period" for refugees, as their own research suggests 28 days is insufficient.

Committee's comments

Frank Field MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

"Delays and errors in delivering benefits are not just an administrative issue. Late or insufficient payments are plunging families into hunger, or putting their homes at risk. The paucity of data about benefit delays has made our scrutiny of this issue difficult, but as MPs we see every week in our surgeries the real hardship that is caused. The Government is betting the farm on Universal Credit, but that will not be fully implemented for several years and has already been subject to repeated delays. The Department must not neglect the existing system in the hope that Universal Credit will save the day. On the contrary, it must do more to improve delivery now."

John Glen MP, Committee Member, said:

"Benefits must be delivered in a way that allows claimants to budget effectively. And for the most vulnerable claimants, timely and accurate payments are vital, across the full range of benefits. Universal Credit will be a welcome reform to improve benefit delivery, but whilst it is being rolled out, we must have the data to allow us to hold the DWP to account and suggest where improvements can be made."

Further information

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