{"id":63763,"date":"2018-02-07T20:15:43","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T01:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants\/"},"modified":"2018-02-07T20:15:43","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T01:15:43","slug":"revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants\/","title":{"rendered":"Revealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports ‘Barely Mention Claimants’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Revealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports ‘Barely Mention Claimants’<\/b>
\nAnd the reports reveal how Universal Credit came close to \u201ccomplete failure\u201d in 2013, but has since recovered.<\/p>\n

Labour MP Frank Field, who chairs the Work and Pensions Committee which analysed the reports, said: \u201cIn\u00a0the eighth year of the programme, the department itself has yet to produce the full business case for its own mega reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top secret \u201cProject Assessment Reviews\u201d dated between 2012 and 2015 were handed to the committee alongside other more recent reports after a humiliating climbdown by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).<\/p>\n

Ministers made the \u201cexceptional\u201d move to hand over the files late last year after a bruising Commons backlash.<\/p>\n

But in a damning assessment, MPs said on Thursday:<\/p>\n

There remains \u201cno evidence\u201d that Universal Credit \u201cmakes work pay\u201d for all types of claimants;
\nThere\u2019s \u201cconsiderable uncertainty\u201d about the reform\u2019s costs and benefits;
\nAnd constant delays to the rollout appear to cancel out savings Universal Credit was meant to provide.
\nField added: \u201cThe programme managers appear to expect us, the public, and the minister responsible to take it on faith that [Universal Credit] will deliver the much improved employment outcomes they claim for the vast range of people \u2013 disabled, single parents, carers, the self-employed – who will claim [it].<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have produced no evidence to back up the key, central economic assumption of the biggest reform to our welfare system in 50 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reviews, which barely mention claimants, are also shot through with management gobbledegook.\u201d<\/p>\n

MPs blast Whitehall \u2018gobbledegook\u2019 MPs have criticised the use of \u201ccryptic and cliched\u201d project management speak in the top secret Universal Credit files. Examples of the so-called \u201cgobbledegook\u201d included: Describing meetings as \u201cstand-ups\u201d, \u201cpriority stand-ups\u201d, a \u201cscrum of scrums\u201d and even a \u201cShow and Tell\u201d; Referring to elements of Universal Credit as \u201cstories\u201d, \u201cepic level stories\u201d and \u201cstory groups\u201d; Explaining one team had\u00a0\u201cnot fully matured its ability to accurately size incoming stories\u201d; And describing the successful completion of a task as\u00a0\u201censuring the safe landing of delivery\u201d. The committee of MPs said the files were \u201cno loss to the canon of published prose\u201d.
\nWith the latest full assessment review dated 2015,\u00a0the committee has called for greater transparency in future.<\/p>\n

Universal Credit replaces six benefits with one single monthly payment and will gradually roll out to all those on welfare by 2022.<\/p>\n

But it has been plagued by problems, including a perilous six week wait in payments, a surge in\u00a0the use of loan sharks\u00a0and\u00a0food banks, and\u00a0rip-off fees to call<\/a> its helpline.<\/p>\n

Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey defended Universal Credit in the Commons last week, saying: \u201cUniversal Credit has had a positive impact since its start, as shown through published research and analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndependent research shows us that people are\u00a0\u200bspending more time looking for work, applying for more jobs and even doing jobs they would not have considered doing before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Not fit for purpose\u2019<\/p>\n

Responding to the committee\u2019s findings, Debbie Abrahams, Labour\u2019s shadow work and pensions secretary, said: \u201cAfter years of Tory Universal Credit chaos, this report proves once again that Universal Credit is not fit for purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is completely unacceptable that the Government has not provided any evidence to back up their repeated assertion that Universal Credit will help people into work, a key principle of the programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Universal Credit is being rolled out, people in and out of work are being pushed into rent arrears, debt and poverty with food bank use rising as a consequence. Yet the Government\u2019s own review barely mention claimants.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the DWP said:\u00a0\u201cThe Work and Pensions Select Committee has commended the department for running the Universal Credit programme \u2018more professionally and efficiently with a collective sense of purpose\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe committee acknowledges that the historic issues raised in this report have now been addressed and \u2018substantial achievements\u2019 have been delivered since 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversal Credit is the biggest modernisation of the welfare system in a generation and continues to be delivered in a safe and secure way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Infrastructure and Projects Authority has independently supported our test and learn approach, the improvements we continue to make and the recent expansion of the programme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the battle for the reports to be fully published continues, with a tribunal set to decide whether the public should be able to access the files or not.<\/p>\n

The government has argued that the internal documents were only ever meant to be seen by ministers and releasing them publicly could mean future reports are less useful.<\/p>\n

And we\u00a0reported how terminally ill Universal Credit claimants are routinely assigned \u201cwork coaches\u201d, prompting condemnation from charities.<\/p>\n

Ministers announced on Wednesday that the government will change the threshold at which households with Universal Credit claims will receive free school meals.<\/p>\n

Labour said the plan could mean more than one million children go without a hot meal at school.
\n
\nwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/entry\/universal-credit-reports_uk_5a7af966e4b07af4e81fbc73<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Revealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports ‘Barely Mention Claimants’ And the reports reveal how Universal Credit came close to \u201ccomplete failure\u201d in 2013, but has since recovered. Labour MP Frank Field, who chairs the Work and Pensions Committee which analysed the reports, said: \u201cIn\u00a0the eighth year of the programme, the department itself has yet to produce … Continue reading Revealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports ‘Barely Mention Claimants’<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc"],"yoast_head":"\nRevealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports 'Barely Mention Claimants' - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Revealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports 'Barely Mention Claimants' - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Revealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports ‘Barely Mention Claimants’ And the reports reveal how Universal Credit came close to \u201ccomplete failure\u201d in 2013, but has since recovered. Labour MP Frank Field, who chairs the Work and Pensions Committee which analysed the reports, said: \u201cIn\u00a0the eighth year of the programme, the department itself has yet to produce … Continue reading Revealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports ‘Barely Mention Claimants’ →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-08T01:15:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GayFriendschat.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f\"},\"headline\":\"Revealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports ‘Barely Mention Claimants’\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-08T01:15:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":837,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"MISC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/revealed-secret-universal-credit-reports-barely-mention-claimants\\\/\",\"name\":\"Revealed: Secret Universal Credit Reports 'Barely Mention Claimants' - 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