Page 94, the Private Eye Podcast.

Hello and welcome to another episode of Page 94, the Private Eye Podcast.

My name is Andrew Hunter Murray and this week we are going to be analyzing the Universal

Credit System, the new governmental system which is meant to

replace all benefits with one simple easy payment of which has been dogged by

delays, inefficiency and disasters for the people actually meant to be receiving the benefits in the first place.

We will also have a special Private Eye Christmas treat.

This is an exclusive extract of the show that I did at the National Theatre,

Private Eye at the National,

featuring bits of the Private Eye annual

Dramatized by a cast of crack comedic talent.

But first, Universal Credit,

this is the system introduced by the coalition government,

designed to replace the UK's previous system of complicated and extremely difficult to navigate benefits with one simple easy payment.

Sounds like a very good idea in theory, but in practice it is now five years overdue.

It's extremely complicated and there have been plenty of delays in people receiving the money to which they are entitled.

Private I's been writing about this for some time now, and Heather Mills has been our correspondent

dealing with the details of Universal Credit and exactly where it's going wrong.

Let's start off by asking Heather which six benefits Universal Credit has been designed to replace.

So it was income support, income-based job seekers allowance, income-related employment and support allowance for those with disabilities, housing benefit, child tax credit and working tax credit.

So all of those things, instead of getting six different payments or however many you are eligible for,

you get one payment each month.

...