Is Universal Credit progressing as well as it should? Yesterday Sir Bob Kerslake, who is not consistently helpful to political colleagues, dropped a bit of a bombshell during a Public Accounts Committee hearing. Discussing the Treasury and the business case for Universal Credit:
‘We shouldn’t beat about the bush: it hasn’t been signed off.’
Labour got very excited about this, with Chris Bryant pointing out that last week Esther McVey told Rachel Reeves in a parliamentary answer that ‘the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has approved the UC Strategic Outline Business Case plans for the remainder of this Parliament’.
The DWP argues that this is wrong, and that the Treasury has ‘approved all funding to date’. Here is the full response:
‘Universal Credit is on track to roll out safely and securely against the plan set out last year – the new service now available in 24 JobCentres, and last week expanded to claims from couples.
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