The government's ambitious welfare reform strategy is at risk because of the speed and depth of the cuts imposed on Iain Duncan Smith's work and pensions department, according to a leaked internal review, reports the Guardian.
The document reveals that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is struggling to meet "extremely challenging" demands for over £1bn of efficiency savings over the next two years and these pressures could disrupt plans to roll out benefits reforms.{jcomments on}
Too crude an approach to future cuts would affect the quality and capacity of the DWP's "public-facing" services to vulnerable pensioners, jobseekers and benefit claimants, it warns.
It is understood that separate internal DWP modelling shows that, as universal credit is expanded in the months before the general election next year, the cuts will diminish the department's capacity to keep on top of rising customer demand in jobcentres and benefit offices.
Read the full story in the Guardian
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