Learning the lessons from Universal Credit

Nicholas Timmins’ report Universal Credit: From disaster to recovery looks at the failure and potential recovery of Universal Credit, the ambitious government project to simplify the welfare system by creating one single working-age benefit. In this separate commentary, we look at the wider lessons for government projects that can be drawn from the story of Universal Credit and what we think are the most important messages for the future. We link them to earlier Institute for Government work on delivering policies and projects effectively. These lessons are particularly important now, as time and money are squeezed in the post-referendum landscape and effective, efficient delivery becomes more necessary than ever.

We also include additional research on the delivery of the Olympics, automatic enrolment into pensions, fuel poverty policies and schools reform.