Mandarins let PAs sign off £30million deals: Damning study shows 'shocking failures' in Government's Universal Credit programme Public Accounts Committee said scheme suffered from weak management MPs critical of implementation of all-in-one tax and benefits system IT programmes worth £140m had to be 'written off' as they were unusable Pilot for scehem branded 'inadequate' and open to fraud A report from the Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Margaret Hodge, pictured, claimed a 'personal assistant' signed off contracts worth more than £30 million as part of the Universal Credit programme A "personal assistant" signed off contracts worth more than £30 million as part of the government's flagship Universal Credit programme, a report claims today. A damning study from MPs warned that the implementation of the all-in-one tax and benefits system was marred by "shocking failures" that had wasted at least £140 million. It had been blighted by "alarmingly weak" management with low-grade civil servants allowed to authorise payments worth millions of pounds. In some cases, it was unclear what suppliers had been paid for, the Public Accounts Committee said. The Department for Work and Pensions had "neglected to implement basic procedures for monitoring and authorising expenditure," it alleged. "We saw evidence that purchase orders with a total value of £8.7 million were approved by a personal assistant to the programme director," the MPs said. In another case, two purchase orders, one for £22.6 million and one for £1.1 million, were approved by a personal assistant to the programme director whose delegated financial authority at the time of approvals was only £10 million. Some individual payments to suppliers could also not be linked to pieces of work delivered. IT programmes worth £140 million had to be "written off" because they were unusable. MPs also warned the £2.3 billion universal credit programme could not meet its deadline to be fully delivered by 2017. A pilot of the scheme was branded "inadequate" as it was "open to fraud." The trial was also limited to only the simplest new claims of those who were single and had no dependents. Universal Credit is due to replace six means-tested benefits in four years" time. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith insisting it can ensure people are always better off in jobs and save £38 billion by 2023. But PAC chairman, Labour's Margaret Hodge, said the implementation so far had been "extraordinarily poor." The report claimed that IT programmes worth £140 million had to be 'written off' because they were unusable (file picture) "The failure to develop a comprehensive plan has led to extensive delay and the waste of a yet to be determined amount of public money," she said, adding: "£425 million has been spent so far on the programme. It is likely that much of this, including at least £140 million worth of IT assets, will now have to be written off. The management of the programme has been alarmingly weak. From the outset, the department has failed to grasp the nature and enormity of the task; failed to monitor and challenge progress regularly; and, when problems arose, failed to intervene promptly. Lack of day-to-day control meant early warning signs were missed, with senior managers becoming aware of problems only through ad hoc reviews. A spokeswoman for Iain Duncan Smith, pictured, said action had been taken to fix the problems with universal credit She also attacked the department for its "fortress culture" and deluding itself by reporting "only good news" while "problems were denied." MPs said the project would not hit its current target of enrolling 184,000 claimants by April 2014. Committee member and Tory MP Richard Bacon said: "In developing IT projects, government departments can no longer be allowed to mark their own homework." Labour's Frank Field, a former social security minister, said: "Labour should show the courage to scrap this monster of a project and provide voters with a real and positive alternative - a something for something welfare state with National Insurance at its heart and a cap on means-tested benefits." A spokeswoman for Iain Duncan Smith said: "Both the NAO [National Audit Office] and the PAC acknowledged a fortress mentality within the [universal credit] programme. Iain was clear back in the summer about how he and the Permanent Secretary took action to fix those problems. He has every confidence with the team now in place, and that team includes Robert Devereux [the permanent secretary]. A DWP spokeswoman said that the department did not recognise the £140 million write off figure. She added: "No contracts were signed off by a personal assistant. They were agreed by the relevant programme authority and the PA simply completed the administration processes necessary. However, stronger financial controls have been put in place so that this doesn't happen again. Universal Credit is a vital reform that rewards work instead of trapping people on benefits. It will ultimately bring a £38bn economic benefit to society. This report doesn't take into account our new leadership team, or our progress on delivery. We have already taken comprehensive action including strengthening governance, supplier management and financial controls.