Universal Credit and Welfare Reform — 11 Sep 2012 at 18:48

The majority of MPs voted against publishing the business case for the “Universal Credit” scheme.

The rejected motion which was the subject of this vote was moved by Liam Byrne MP (Birmingham, Hodge Hill, Labour). The motion stated:^[1]

• That this House
• notes that the Universal Credit is late and over budget;
• recognises that there is widespread unease surrounding the implementation of the £2 billion scheme’s IT system;
• further notes that the project is so badly designed that it is set to reduce work incentives for over two million people and hurt small businesses and the self-employed;
• believes that Ministers have failed to properly account for numerous basic details of how the scheme will work, such as its interaction with free school meals or what is to be done with 20,000 Housing Benefit staff;
• further believes that the project is poorly thought through and is now at risk of descending into chaos; and
• calls on the Government to publish the business case, so that the House can see a detailed plan of implementation, and urgently to set out a plan to address these deep flaws before it is too late.

An official impact assessment^[2] determined there would be no net cost implication as a result of introducing the universal credit system. It stated “benefit expenditure will be around £2bn higher once Universal Credit is fully implemented” but also “it is estimated that there will be savings of around £2bn due to reduced fraud, error and overpayments together with changes to the earnings disregards that currently exist in tax credits”

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• [1] Liam Byrne MP (Birmingham, Hodge Hill, Labour) House of Commons 11 September 2012
• [2] Universal Credit Impact Assessment - October 2011

Debate in Parliament | Source |