We reported in CIPP news on 4 September that HMRC would be sending out letters to all employers who should be reporting in real time but have not yet started. HMRC has today issued a press release . More than 1.6 million employer PAYE schemes, covering over 40 million individual records, are already reporting in real time since the launch of new reporting requirements in April, and any employers who have failed to follow the new process have been urged to act now by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Employers or agents (acting on behalf of their clients) who have set up unused PAYE schemes should contact HMRC to close them.
This month, around 167,000 employers who have missed one or more deadlines for reporting PAYE will receive a letter. Employers need to act now and start reporting in real time. If employers have not reported because they don’t pay anyone, the PAYE scheme has closed or it is no longer operating, they still need to let HMRC know by calling our Employer Helpline. More information can be found here .
Universal credit early progress report from the National Audit Office
6 September 2013
The National Audit Office (NAO) has published its first report on the progress of Universal Credit and has concluded that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has not achieved value for money in its early implementation. The NAO said that the report - Universal Credit: early progress - determines that the Department was overly ambitious in both the timetable and scope of the programme. The Department took risks to try to meet the short timescale and used a new project management approach which it had never before used on a programme of this size and complexity. It was unable to explain how it originally decided on its ambitious plans or evaluated their feasibility. Given the tight timescale, unfamiliar project management approach and lack of a detailed plan, it was critical that the Department should have good progress information and effective controls. In practice the Department did not have any adequate measures of progress. “The Department’s plans for Universal Credit were driven by an ambitious timescale, and this led to the adoption of a systems development approach new to the Department. The relatively high risk trajectory was not, however, matched by an appropriate management approach. Instead, the programme suffered from weak management, ineffective control and poor governance. Universal Credit could well go on to achieve considerable benefits if the Department learns from these early setbacks and puts realistic plans and strong discipline in place for its future roll-out.” Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said the following:
In response to the NAO report , a DWP spokesperson said:
“Universal Credit is a vital reform that will ensure we have a welfare system that means people are always better off in work than on benefits and we are a country that truly backs those who work hard and want to get on.
We are committed to delivering Universal Credit on time by 2017 and within budget, and under new leadership we have a plan in place that is achievable.
The report does not cover the significant developments we’ve made since April including the go live in Greater Manchester, our progress on the IT challenge, the latest plans for
CIPP Policy News Journal
16/04/2014, Page 341 of 519
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