It seems inconceivable after 4 years of the Governments legislative programme that a major item of their welfare reforms has still not been signed off by the Treasury. The MPs who were involved in the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee when this was disclosed by Sir Bob Kerslake, the head of the Civil Service were told “We shouldn’t beat about the bush, it hasn’t been signed off” This information is staggering for all those involved in helping to prepare the ground for people who receive a number of different benefits, and who have been told that the Universal Benefit will replace all of these in due course. At one time the expectation that this scheme would have been introduced across the country before next years General Election was clear. In more recent months the successive delays had led to the understanding that in some parts of the country including Sussex that Universal Credit would not be introduced until 2016 or 2017. However it seems clear that if the scheme is not signed off soon by the Treasury, that the impending General Election will create increasing nervousness by those involved and there must be some risk that this might never be signed off in its current format.

The concept of a Universal Credit seems to have been widely welcomed by all those I have spoken to whose work involves supporting people on low incomes. The way in which it has been rushed through and then stalled by successive problems has not been welcomed by anyone other than the most die hard Iain Duncan Smith or Esther McVey supporter. In my rather idealistic mind where solving problems depends on working in a collaborative manner, the problem has been far too much conflict and antagonistic discourse over the constructive and problem solving approach that was needed. To go back now would be an appalling waste of energy and changes to the processes involved. To force the issue through the Treasury until they are confident that the policy is sound would be the worst sort of political expediency. Yet with the countdown to the Election gathering pace the risk that this is put on the too hard to deal with tray must increase every day.

If we needed to create a new Parliament for the UK from a blank sheet of paper, we would surely not allow a situation to occur where complex legislation and change to our national institutions would need to be forced through in such small timescales as our current 5 year Parliaments can allow. We would find a way of recognising the need for successive Governments to build on the hard work of their predecessors, understanding that every flip flop in policy terms costs you and I a lot of our money. I have written previously about the reckless way in which the coalition wasted Millions of Pounds on schemes commissioned by their predecessors simply because they did not want to be seen to endorse the work of their political opponents. I am told by Civil Servants that they are already beginning to prepare for a political hiatus when they won’t fully respond to the demands of Ministers, simply because the men and women who have been elected are too out of touch to realise that their own actions no longer matter. Just like any process, the Civil Servants understand how long it takes for change to take effect, much better than those authorised to make the decisions concerned.

This morning on the radio, there is yet another airing of the tension between the Government and the Civil Service. Should Civil Servants run their departments well, or respond to those elected by you and I. The problem with this rather false dichotomy is that neither extreme is in our interest. If the Cabinet Ministers win the argument those that are competent and understand their brief will make a real difference, whilst they are in their post, and then the whole system will change when they leave, creating chaos in their wake. However those that are incompetent or misunderstand their role will potentially damage whole swathes of society. On the other hand if the Civil Service is dominant, the world will forever turn in the same way, irrespective of the Political changes taking place around them. It is vital that our Politicians understand that the last election might be the final chance they have to change things for the better as they see it. They need to improve our society, but in a manner that others can build on!