Work & Pensions Committee hear evidence on Universal Credit in-work progression

UKParliament

On Wednesday 3 February from 9.30am, the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee will hear evidence on Universal Credit in-work progression.

The Committee will hear from:

• Tony Wilson, Director of Policy and Research, Learning and Work Institute
• David Finch, Senior Economic Analyst, Resolution Foundation
• Emma Stewart MBE, Joint Chief Executive Officer, Timewise Foundation
• Dr Anthony Rafferty, Senior Lecturer in Employment Studies, Alliance Manchester Business School
• Julia Waltham, Head of Campaigns and Policy, Working Families

Watch the session on Parliament TV.

UKParliament

On Monday 1 February, questions were put to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions relating to changes to the universal credit work allowance.

What assessment he has made of the effect on the income of working households of changes to the universal credit work allowance.

Watch the question session in full on Parliament TV.

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You may also be interested in the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee's report, published today, on the roll-out of Universal Credit.

Read the report in full on the Parliament website.

The Committee says it remains "disappointed by the persistent lack of clarity and evasive responses by the Department to our inquiries, particularly about the extent and impact of delays".

Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the PAC, said today:

"The lack of transparency surrounding a programme with such wide-reaching implications for so many people is completely unacceptable."

The estimated completion date for the roll-out of the Universal Credit digital service is six months later compared to when the Committee examined the programme last year.

Report summary

We acknowledge that Universal Credit has stabilised and made progress since the previous Committee of Public Accounts first reported on the programme in 2013. However, there remains a long way to go.

Implementation of Universal Credit so far has focussed mainly on the simplest cases, and the Department for Work & Pensions has again delayed the programme.

The completion date for the roll-out of its new digital service is six months later compared to when we looked at the programme only a year ago, and the Department now expects that Universal Credit will be fully operational in March 2021.

OBR forecasts further delays

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts that there will be a further six-month delay beyond the Department’s latest planned end-date.

We remain disappointed by the persistent lack of clarity and evasive responses by the Department to our inquiries, particularly about the extent and impact of delays.

The Department’s response to the previous Committee’s recommendations in the February 2015 report Universal Credit: progress update do not convince us that it is committed to improving transparency about the programme’s progress.

Chair's comment

Meg Hillier MP said:

"The Department for Work & Pensions appears either unable or unwilling to level with Parliament and the public about Universal Credit.

This lack of clarity creates needless uncertainty for claimants and those tasked with running the programme. It’s also an unnecessary obstacle to Parliament and taxpayers holding the government to account.

Since our previous Report it has emerged there will be further delays before Universal Credit becomes fully operational, the full implications of which are unclear. It’s also worrying that the approved business case for the programme has not been updated to take account of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement.

If taxpayers are to have any faith in what is already a complex and controversial project then the Department must provide clear information about the impact of these factors and the roll-out of the programme as a whole."

In February 2015 the previous PAC published Universal Credit: progress update. The Department accepted the Report’s recommendations, but the Committee questioned its commitment to ensuring "real clarity on this important programme’s progress".

This latest Report follows a new inquiry that recalled both the Department and HM Treasury to discuss ongoing issues of concern around the business case, the continuing risks of delay, and the lack of transparency and clear milestones.

Weary_soul

We remain disappointed by the persistent lack of clarity and evasive responses by the Department to our inquiries, particularly about the extent and impact of delays.

And they're surprised at this?? This the DWP after all.

This latest Report follows a new inquiry that recalled both the Department and HM Treasury to discuss ongoing issues of concern around the business case, the continuing risks of delay, and the lack of transparency and clear milestones.

All the while p*ssing away even more millions of tax payers money on this horrendous unfair/unworkable benefit system.

UKParliament

On Monday 7 March from 3.45pm, the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee will hear evidence on Universal Credit in-work progression.

The Committee will hear from:

• Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, Minister of State for Employment
• Pauline Crellin, Head of Universal Credit, Labour Market Policy and Partnership Division
• Ross James, Universal Credit Labour Market Transformation and Test and Learn Division, Department for Work and Pensions

The Committee will consider the following areas:

• the role of JCP Work Coaches in the in-work service;
• applying conditionality fairly and plans to provide relevant data;
• augmenting the pilot with learning from alternative approaches; and
• coordination of in-work progression with wider government policy.

Watch the session in full on Parliament TV.

UKParliament

On Tuesday 11 May 2016, the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee published its report into In-work progression in Universal Credit.

Read the report in full on the Parliament website.

The Work and Pensions Committee says the employment support service for in-work claimants of Universal Credit (UC) holds the potential to be the most significant welfare reform since 1948, but realising this potential means a steep on-the-job learning curve, as the policy appears to be untried anywhere in the world.

Committee recommendations

Given there is no comprehensive evidence anywhere on how to run an effective in-work service, the Department for Work and Pensions will be learning as it develops this innovation. The Committee says:

• for the reform to work, it must help confront the structural or personal barriers in-work claimants face to taking on more work, such as a lack of access to childcare and limited opportunities to take on extra hours or new jobs
• the question of applying proposed sanctions is complex: employed people self-evidently do not lack the motivation to work. The use of financial sanctions for in-work claimants must be applied very differently to those for out-of-work claimants
• a successful in-work service will also require partnership between Job Centre Plus and employers to a degree not seen before.

Chair's comment

Frank Field MP, Chair of the Committee said:

"The in-work service promises progress in finally breaking the cycle of people getting stuck in low pay, low prospects employment. We congratulate the Government for developing this innovation. As far as we can tell, nothing like this has been tried anywhere else in the world. This is a very different kind of welfare, which will require developing a new kind of public servant."

Weary_soul

Yeah, this is working well...not. Todays Guardian.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/may/11/benefit-sanctions-hurting-low-paid-vulnerable-people#comment-73988754

Benefit sanctions are leaving people almost destitute, with some individuals being pushed toward “survival crime” in order to eat and children missing school because parents can’t pay the bus fare. These are the preliminary findings of a major study into increased restrictions on receiving benefits in the UK welfare system, published in full on Thursday.

The research, led by the University of York, also shows the controversial extension of benefit sanctions to working people on universal credit (UC) can produce disincentives to work.

In-work conditionality for UC claimants is saying to low-paid workers, ‘you’re in work but that’s not enough'
Under in-work conditionality, UC claimants who are already working up to 35 hours a week – and who may never have been unemployed in their life – are forced to seek more work hours, higher pay, or an extra job as a condition of receiving low-wage top-ups and other benefits, or else face sanctions.

Low-paid workers put through this process report “dehumanising” and “intimidating” experiences.

Frank Field MP, Chair of the Committee said:

"The in-work service promises progress in finally breaking the cycle of people getting stuck in low pay, low prospects employment. We congratulate the Government for developing this innovation. As far as we can tell, nothing like this has been tried anywhere else in the world. This is a very different kind of welfare, which will require developing a new kind of public servant."

Jesus Christ, he hasn't a clue has he.