Universal Credit Delays: IDS Faces Grilling

Iain Duncan Smith will face fresh questions from MPs today over the scale of delays to the Government's flagship welfare reform.

The Work and Pensions Secretary, who is to appear before a Commons committee this afternoon, has admitted the 2017 target for the full introduction of Universal Credit is set to be missed - with around 700,000 claimants facing a longer wait.

Labour said official figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility showed that only a tiny fraction of the numbers due to be using the new system by the time of the next general election would be transferred on time.

It added that only a "handful" of the promised 1.7 million would be switched by 2014/15 and only 400,000 by the following year - less than 10% of the original target.

The flagship reform, which forces people to budget by paying their benefits in one monthly lump sum, has been dogged by difficulties amid accusations of weak management and a timetable that keeps on slipping.

Sky's political correspondent Anushka Asthana said: "Fears are rising about the human consequences of this massive reform."

The implementation of the scheme has been branded 'inadequate'

It comes as figures given exclusively to Sky News show how UK landlords are now less likely to take tenants on universal credit due to concerns of non-payment.

The data from the National Landlords' Association shows the number of landlords letting to people on housing benefits has halved to just one in five.

And 52% of landlords say they would not even consider letting to someone on benefits because of those who do, seven out of 10 have experienced rent arrears in past 12 months averaging £3,000 each.

Ministers claim the initial roll-out of Universal Credit - which combines six means-tested benefits into one monthly payment designed to ensure people are better off working than on benefits - has been a success.

They point to figures suggesting it is encouraging more people to look for jobs in what Mr Duncan Smith described as a "cultural shift".

Mr Duncan Smith will be grilled by the work and pensions select committee

But critics say the limited implementation of the scheme - which has been plagued by IT and other problems - only involve the least challenging cases.

And it was branded "inadequate" and open to fraud in a scathing report by a cross-party committee.

The Commons public accounts committee found that at least £140m had already been wasted on the project, which was blighted by "alarmingly weak" management.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said "David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith are presiding over a complete mess and it is taxpayers who are picking up the bill with at least one hundred million pounds of their money written off."

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