"At the same time, the UK's data watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office, has contacted the national tax authority, HMRC, over the issues raised. Pressure on the government to reveal the reason incomplete Home Office travel data was used by HMRC as part of a benefit crackdown has mounted as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for work and pensions, Steve Darling, said what had happened was unacceptable."
"After the carers allowance repayments scandal, this news raises fresh concerns that things are seriously wrong within our welfare system, with people paying the price through no fault of their own. Ministers must come clean on how exactly this error was allowed to happen in the first place, support affected families, and ensure that action will be taken to stop such mistakes from ever happening again."
HMRC suspended child benefit payments in roughly 23,500 cases after using incomplete Home Office travel data, prompting concerns about privacy breaches and wrongful sanctions. The Information Commissioner's Office has contacted HMRC to investigate the data issues. HMRC reinstated payments to 1,979 families by 31 October and urged anyone wrongly sanctioned to call the helpline for resolution. Flaws first emerged when politicians in Northern Ireland found payments stopped for taxpayers who returned via Dublin airport. Suspensions affected families across the UK, including round trips, historic holidays flagged as one-way travel, and passengers who never boarded flights.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]