Universal Credit

Lord Maclennan of Rogart Excerpts

Wednesday 21st December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, I am pleased to confirm that the project is on time and on budget. The second paragraph of the MPRG letter states:

“Let me congratulate you on the significant progress that has been made”.

I think that the noble Lord is referring to a particular aspect of the RTI HMRC project where we have gone with what we call an interim solution to providing information on people's earnings per month in a way that will allow companies to have a stepping stone into what we call the strategic solution, which we plan to introduce in 2016. The gains to companies of that process are estimated at £300 million a year.

[Lord Maclennan of Rogart]

Can my noble friend indicate what up-to-date information the Government have received on the feasibility of full implementation by their target date of October 2013, when all employers are expected by the Government to be on the real-time information system, coinciding with the start of universal credit?

[Lord Freud]

Yes, my Lords, simplifying the process, the RTI pilots will start in April next year with a group of 300 volunteer software developers, employers and pension providers. In the autumn of next year, we will have integration testing, with a view to having the full migration of everyone from April 2013 to October 2013.