Baroness Sherlock
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Universal Credit
Baroness Sherlock Excerpts(9 years, 10 months ago)
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Baroness Sherlock (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating that Answer. It was an interesting history lesson, but it did not shed as much light as I would have liked on the Question that was asked. We have been very supportive of the principle of universal credit, but the enormous problems that his department has been having in implementing it are sorely testing our support. If the Minister is to maintain cross-party backing for universal credit, a project to which I know he is personally committed, then we need rather more transparency than the Government have been able to offer during the process hitherto.
On 30 June, the Employment Minister, Esther McVey, said that the Chief Secretary had approved the strategic outline business case for universal credit. On Monday, the head of the Civil Service, Sir Bob Kerslake, said to the Public Accounts Committee:
“We shouldn’t beat about the bush. It hasn’t been signed off”.
I ask the Minister two simple questions. First, Esther McVey and Sir Bob Kerslake cannot both be right: which of them is? Secondly, can he assure the House that universal credit is, and always has been, on time and on budget?