Briefing: Universal Credit

MPs are due to debate the government’s plans for universal credit in the House of Commons this afternoon. The Opposition Day motion questions whether ministers have ‘failed to properly account for numerous basic details of how the scheme will work’, and calls for them to address ‘deep flaws’ in the project. So where is the project at the moment, and what are those deep problems?

The background

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith unveiled the universal credit at the Conservative party conference in 2010. It was based on the work that his think tank, the Centre for Social Justice had carried out when Duncan Smith was in opposition, and led to the publication of a white paper called ‘Universal Credit: welfare that works’ in November 2010. It was enabled by the Welfare Reform Act, which became law in March 2012. The universal credit introduces a single payment of all a claimant’s benefit entitlements, and is designed to smooth the transition back into work.