IDS

DWP universal credit watch - two more areas down, on track for 2030 target

The Department for Work and Pensions has announced its latest universal credit rollout.

Two new areas will implement the scheme from today - the unemployment hotspots of Bath and Harrogate.

It is only up and running in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Hammersmith, Inverness and Rugby as the IT system has consistently failed to deliver, with Iain Duncan Smith criticised for his incompetent management of it.

Minister for Welfare Reform Lord Freud encouraged this foot-dragging rollout, saying:

"We are introducing Universal Credit in a slow, safe and controlled way."

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Unemployment

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Benefit

IDS uses Benefits Street success to justify failing policies

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith is to make a speech today suggesting that the Channel 4 programme 'Benefits Street' has brought home the reality of life in some of Britain's inner cities to the wider public.

In a draft of the speech marking the tenth anniversay of his think tank the Centre for Social Justice, quoted in The Guardian, Smith said:

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When government departments attack - universal credit in trouble again

Iain Duncan Smith's failing universal credit programme faces further delays as warfare has broken out within the government leading to the breakdown of key relationships.

The scheme, which aims to replace six benefits with one online system, was being developed jointly between the Cabinet Office and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

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Whistleblower tells of sanctions targets as IDS sticks head in sand

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith was faced with more accusations of sanction targets when he was questioned by MPs yesterday.

Appearing before the work and pensions select committee, Smith denied that sanction targets existed, despite being presented with evidence to the contrary.

This evidence included the testimony of a whistleblower who spoke to the committee on the same day, a former jobcentre worker from Manchester.

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IDS to face MPs to account for his Universal Credit failings

Under-fire Work and Pensions Secretary Ian Duncan Smith will finally face a committee of MPs this afternoon to account for his failures on the Universal Credit system.

In advance of this he gave an interview to The Financial Times in which he said he took "complete responsibility ... from start to finish" for the issues affecting the scheme.

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IDS admits more Universal Credit delays while hiding behind Autumn Statement

Under-fire Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has admitted that he will miss his most recent timetable for the introduction of Universal Credit - the latest in a long line of delays.

He chose to release this information on the day the Chancellor gives his Autumn Statement, when most political reporters are busy, hiding his latest disappointment behind George Osborne.

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Universal Credit encourages poverty while IDS trumpets unproven work link

A new report on Universal Credit shows that poverty is growing for those taking part in pilot schemes.

The scheme has been blighted from the start, with accusations of mismanagement, allegations that it does not work, the write-off of hundreds of millions of pounds due to IT failures, and a far slower introduction pace than promised.

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IDS religious beliefs not shown in policy - New Statesman

Ian Duncan Smith is a Christian whose actions and beliefs would be entirely alien to Jesus.

That is the claim of an article in The New Statesman, which shows that, despite using the language of 'sin' and 'redemption', Smith's policies are not compatible with a Christian way of life

Laurie Penny, the article's author, says: "Iain Duncan Smith is a second-rate thinker and a third-rate leader who is wrecking civil society with his misguided moral crusade."

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