Labour attack DWP “chaos”

Later today, Liam Byrne will give a speech outlining the costs of what he will call “chaos” in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The speech is expected to focus on failures of delivery of flagship programmes such as the Universal Credit and Youth Contract.

Mr Byrne is expected to say:

“Nobody wants to see a department that can’t get the basics right – but that doesn’t mean we can run away from the problem… And there is no escaping the fact the government’s failure will end up costing the taxpayer a staggering £1.4bn by the end of this Parliament.”

Liam Byrne will also pledge Labour to bringing social security spending under control. He will call for Atos to be given weeks to get the Work Programme  back on track or lose its contract.

He will also say Labour backs Universal Credit, which is due to replace the majority of out-of-work benefits by 2017, “in principle” but claim that the “implementation is a disaster,” with costs likely to add up to an extra £300m to implement by 2016-17.