The DWP has ditched its outsourced Universal Credit fraud-busting contract with call centre giant Teleperformance barely two years into a four-year deal, according to Guido’s insider sources. Verbal notice was given at a face-to-face meeting yesterday, with formal written notice being served today. The 2,700 agents who have spent that time checking claims from home are being moved onto the DWP payroll under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations…
The contract was awarded on 19 June 2024 and was due to run until 19 June 2028. Its indicative value based on Teleperformance’s winning bid was £368 million, rising to £632 million with all extensions and options. Its job was to run a parallel Universal Credit claim review service alongside DWP’s own team to detect error and potential fraud in Universal Credit payments. Didn’t go so well…
DWP is using a “convenience” clause in the contract and bringing the work in-house as part of a restructure. Sources say the contract has repeatedly missed its targets on Annually Managed Expenditure and projected savings – numerous working groups had been set up to fix performance levels that sit far below DWP’s own internal numbers. The department’s own business case claimed that over the four years the outsourced model could be £17 million (2.4%) cheaper than doing it in-house, mostly thanks to lower staffing costs. The model was built around remote working – 90% of Teleperformance’s agents are working from home…
Bringing the work back in-house means 2,700 more people join the Civil Service headcount and will have to spend 60% of their time in a Civil Service office. Labour’s promise to cut Civil Service numbers is going about as well as expected…
DWP’s Targeted Case Review programme has grown massively from seven agents in 2022 to 6,000 staff in-house and outsourced last year reviewing benefit claims. A government source added:
“AI is also helping cause a significant spike in claims for non-assessed benefits like child DLA and Attendance Allowance. ChatGPT and Google AI searches are providing detailed application templates. Nuneaton, for example, has seen a peculiar rise in the number of blind or partially-sighted Romanian claimants.
Pat McFadden is regularly briefed on where savings can be made across DWP but isn’t taking anything forward because the PLP will reject it.”
Officials soon to drown in benefit claims while Labour MPs sit on their hands…
Asked by Lobby hacks about his past comments on Trump (“any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now”) Burnham was blithe:
“Politicians say things throughout their career, but now the important thing is to focus on the moment you are in.”
Were it so easy…