Shipping History - Universal Credit

"The government's flagship benefits system has been too slow to roll out, causes hardship, and is not delivering value for money, a watchdog has said.

The National Audit Office said the £1.9bn Universal Credit system could end up costing more to administer than the benefits system it is replacing.

Some claimants waited eight months for payment amid the switch to UC, which rolls six benefits into one, it adds.

The move to UC has long been criticised for its delayed and flawed implementation, with about 25% (113,000) of new claims in 2017 being paid late."

"Key findings in the National Audit Office included:

Eight years after work began on UC, only 10% (815,000) of the expected eventual number of claimants are on the system
Some 20% of those paid late - usually the more needy and complicated cases - were waiting five months or more to be paid
Ministers would never know if their aim of putting 200,000 extra people in employment, or saving £2.1bn in fraud and error, would work
Government expectations that UC would deliver £8bn of net benefits annually depended on "unproven assumptions"
UC currently costs £699 per claim - four times as much as the government intends to spend when the systems are fully developed
So many changes had been made to job centres and working practices that there is no "alternative but to continue"

The report noted that "the Department for Work and Pensions does not accept that UC has caused hardship among claimants".
Source https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-44468437

It's not a very encouraging report, so what's the cause [or who's to blame] - Government policy [notwithstanding the need to overhaul the system], the design of the new system, or is it inefficiency of those administering it at the sharp end?