Private Sector Experts Called In To Save Universal Credit, HS2 Projects

The government is drafting in around one hundred private sector troubleshooters to save some of their riskiest projects, like the flagship Universal Credit benefits reform and the High Speed Rail (HS2) project.

The experts, from management consultancy and other industries, will help monitor new contracts and bulk purchasing across the public sector, the Times reports.

This comes after ministers came under fire for projects like Universal Credit, which was branded an "unmitigated disaster" by MPs for coming in massively over-budget and on track to miss its 2017 deadline for full implementation.

Earlier this month, Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said: "It’s clear that David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith have completely failed to get to grips with their flagship welfare reform and millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been written off as a result."

Meanwhile, the High Speed Rail 2 project has continued to be a source of political tension as Tory MPs and former Labour ministers rail against it. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has suggested he could kill off the "mismanaged" scheme were Labour to win the next election.

Lord Mandelson, ex-business secretary under the last Labour government, said the scheme would "suck the lifeblood" out of the rest of Britain.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/27/hs2-universal-credit_n_4507314.html?utm_hp_ref=uk&ir=UK

Ha!

So it will miss it's 2017 deadline!

The Tories would have been gone two years before that!

FFS!

They brought in the private sector graduates to devise and build the computer system to govern UC..That was BT  

My brother was one of those graduates that was working on that system..He resigned and is now working for another company!

  

He's already blown millions through incompetence so how much more is this going to cost the taxpayer.

Universal credit scheme will waste at least £140m, say MPs
Committee criticises 'alarmingly weak' management and questions whether project can be delivered by 2017 deadline
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/07/universal-credit-waste-mps


The HSR 2 Project will probably account for a lot more. I do hope Labour pull out of it.

Sassy wrote:Universal credit scheme will waste at least £140m, say MPs
Committee criticises 'alarmingly weak' management and questions whether project can be delivered by 2017 deadline
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/07/universal-credit-waste-mps


The HSR 2 Project will probably account for a lot more.   I do hope Labour pull out of it.

British Telecom private sector graduates were doing the IT systems so how can he blame civil servants?

IDS will blame anyone but himself. He's a coward, it's his nature.

Sassy wrote:Universal credit scheme will waste at least £140m, say MPs
Committee criticises 'alarmingly weak' management and questions whether project can be delivered by 2017 deadline
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/07/universal-credit-waste-mps


The HSR 2 Project will probably account for a lot more.   I do hope Labour pull out of it.

It was their idea.

Would you like to produce some evidence of that.

The introduction of the government's flagship universal credit benefit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11735673

They have said they would back it, IF changes are made, and they are certainly not responsible for the setting up of the IT system, which has been a complete cock up and lost approximately £140mill so far or the management of it's introduction.

sphinx wrote:

Sassy wrote:Universal credit scheme will waste at least £140m, say MPs
Committee criticises 'alarmingly weak' management and questions whether project can be delivered by 2017 deadline
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/07/universal-credit-waste-mps


The HSR 2 Project will probably account for a lot more.   I do hope Labour pull out of it.

It was their idea.  

Are you in favour of HSR 2 ?

I know that many people living in the Shires are very much against it!   

Sassy wrote:Would you like to produce some evidence of that.

The introduction of the government's flagship universal credit benefit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11735673

They have said they would back it, IF changes are made, and they are certainly not responsible for the setting up of the IT system, which has been a complete cock up and lost approximately £140mill so far or the management of it's introduction.

I thought he was talking about HS2 - the statement about labour dropping it came straight after HS2

Catman wrote:

sphinx wrote:

It was their idea.  

Are you in favour of HSR 2 ?

I know that many people living in the Shires are very much against it!   

I dont live in the shires but I fail to understand why it is necessary at such huge cost when it would be cheaper to upgrade the existing line.

Ah right. Then again, all the evidence I can find says HS 2 was a conservative idea that labour backed until the costings became so ridiculous and now they are talking of pulling out as it will be too expensive.

Sassy wrote:Ah right.   Then again, all the evidence I can find says HS 2 was a conservative idea that labour backed until the costings became so ridiculous and now they are talking of pulling out as it will be too expensive.

The company was set up in 2009 by the Labour government.