From disaster to recovery: Learning the lessons of Universal Credit
Almost six years since Universal Credit was first unveiled in the Welfare that Works white paper, the Institute for Government launched a study by Sen
Almost six years since Universal Credit was first unveiled in the Welfare that Works white paper, the Institute for Government launched a study by Senior Fellow, Nicholas Timmins, former public policy editor of the Financial Times, of 'one of the boldest and most radical reforms since Beveridge.' This tells the story of how ministers and officials presided over an initial disaster, but then pulled things round into recovery – although it is far too soon to be sure that Universal Credit will eventually prove a success.
The lessons from the implementation of Universal Credit – from what went wrong to what then went right, or at least went better – are relevant for all major government projects.
Nicholas Timmins outlined the main findings in his study. These were discussed with an expert panel, including:
- Lord Freud, Minister of State for Welfare Reform, Department for Work and Pensions
- Emma Norris, Programme Director, Institute for Government
- Professor Denise Bower, Executive Director, Major Projects Association
- Geoffrey Spence, former Chief Executive, Infrastructure UK.
The event was chaired by Julian McCrae, Deputy Director, Institute for Government.
Read our accompanying briefing paper Learning the lessons from Universal Credit
Our blogs on Universal Credit:
Lessons from Universal Credit to help current and future major projects
- Topic
- Public services Policy making
- Keywords
- Universal Credit Welfare
- Publisher
- Institute for Government