Flagship reforms of the welfare system are under threat because the IT scheme behind the project is £100m over budget and plagued by glitches, MPs have warned. he technology underpinning the Universal Credit - the Government’s answer to simplifying the benefits system - has been rushed through in an attempt unveil the new welfare plans by 2013.

The All Party Group on Taxation found that the Universal Credit, a single payment intended to replace several different benefits, is reliant on a new HMRC up-to-date “real time” information to track earnings. Officials admitted that a pilot begun in April was suffering from a “glitch” that meant it had processed fewer than one in 10 of the 1m PAYE submissions so far submitted by employers. Internal documents also said the original project budget of £108m has grown to £201m.....Read more here: Universal Credit benefit reforms 'threatened by IT system' - Telegraph