The vanity project that is Iain Duncan Smith’s universal credit

So that’s it then, universal credit is too big to be allowed to fail and has cost a lot of our money to reach this sorry state. Along the way many vulnerable people have experienced unnecessary hardship (Costly and unwieldy: watchdog savages universal credit system, 15 June). Vanity projects are generally big and shiny, with space to attach plaques commemorating the person responsible. Iain Duncan Smith, who was the brains behind this project, believed that he had found the answer to eradicating poverty, and the way to rebuild the self-esteem of people receiving some or all of their income from the state. The cash spent to date establishing an imperfect system is a monument to his obstinacy, and is especially galling as it was occurring at a time when the benefits budget was being reduced.
Les Bright
Exeter, Devon

• So universal credit is more expensive and doesn’t deliver (Editorial, 15 June). Yet it is being touted as too costly to cancel.

But one thing not mentioned so far is that whistleblowers have consistently reported being overworked, with the cuts or limits to jobcentre staff numbers making it impossible for them to deliver even universal credit’s own flawed and penalising measures. This is obviously in a bid to make UC appear to pay for itself, yet even then it costs too much.

Wages and property expenses are usually among the highest of costs for any organisation, so if universal credit was actually staffed properly and with sufficient physical access available to “clients”, then it seems reasonable to expect its costs would justify shutting the entire project.

Let’s not forget also that the old system, honed from years of use to a fairly good package, is still actually up and running, at least in part, in every council. It isn’t too late.
Robin Baldock
London

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