The Department of Work and Pensions has “refused to say: ‘We got it wrong first time and we’re starting again.’ They’re trying to muddle through, outrageously,” Hodge said in an interview with CSW. “I’m really cross about it. I think it’s a very, very poor set of decisions that have been taken by government, and it just means more waste and kidding people you’re doing something you’re not doing, rather than getting on and developing what is an uncontentious public policy change.”
The programme has been weakened by a “mess” around accountability, she added, with “rows between the civil servants and ministers about whose fault it is and who’s accountable. If there had been much better clarity about accountability, then we might be in a better position than we are today”.
In December, the work and pensions secretary wrote off £40m of IT spending and acknowledged delays in the project. However, he maintained that the “vast majority” of claimants would be on the new system by the original deadline of 2017.
See also: Margaret Hodge interview
IFG: Univsersal Credit accountability questions remain unanswered