Universal Credit IT System

Universal Credit is a government system which intends to unify six different benefits into one system: "The overhaul of the welfare system has been driven by Mr Duncan Smith, who argues that too many people are trapped on benefits. He says the changes are designed to make work pay - instead of people seeing their income drop when they move off benefits and into low-paid work. The move is also a bid to simplify the system by merging a string of working-age benefits and tax credits into one single payment, called universal credit. This is supposed to reduce the amount of fraud and error that hits the benefits system amounting to billions of pounds a year."

The system requires links with the tax systems. The IT system at the heart of universal credit has been subject to many problems, delays and a loss of money. £34 million was written off in 2013; the initial system development by external contracts using an agile approach has been halted and development of a new system taken in-house by the Department of Work and Pensions. As of 26th February 2015, the "reset" system has been delayed by six months., while ‘90 percent of Universal Credit staff say IT systems ‘inadequate''.

It has been subject to a number of critical reports by the National Audit Office including one in 2013: and in November 2014: as well as newspaper reports of ongoing issues:

Tasks

Question 1. Describe universal credit and outline the computer systems involved. How is universal credit supported to work? Create a timeline and describe the progress of universal credit to date, including the two systems and the "reset". Identify the main problems that universal credit has hit, and describe the role of agile. What do you think are the fundamental problems? Do you think there has been too much secrecy, for example?

Question 2. Does the case of universal credit identify fundamental lessons about systems development and contract management? If so what? As far as you can tell, what is the current state of universal credit IT development? Universal credit will be a problem for the new UK government. What recommendations would you give?