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Responding to today's (Thursday) report by the National Audit Office, which says that the government's new Universal Credit Programme is wasting taxpayers' money and is being poorly implemented, TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said:

'This report is a damning indictment of what happens when one minister's ill- thought out hobby horse replaces proper policy development.

'The National Audit Office has exposed what a mess the government is making of implementing Universal Credit, which now appears to be a dysfunctional money pit.

'It beggars belief that minsters still don't know whether their IT will work nationally and that such huge sums have been wasted on systems that aren't fit for purpose.

'Instead of making up stats, attacking claimants in genuine need and cutting back on budgets for managing fraud, ministers should focus their energies on developing a modern welfare system that provides proper support to those who need help. They are to blame for this debacle not officials.'

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