§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how long it took to finalise the claim for child benefit submitted by Mr. B. Bentley of Quigley Street, Birkenhead; and if he will make a statement on his policy of transferring child benefit to grandparents when they become the main carer of the child. [170656]
§ Ruth Kelly[holding answer 4 May 2004]: The Inland Revenue is statutorily debarred from disclosing information relating to the affairs of individuals. Exemption 15 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies.
The rules governing the transfer of child benefit from one person to an other are contained in the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992. Where a 1507W child's parent voluntarily relinquishes entitlement to child benefit in favour of the child's grandparent, the grandparent will be entitled from the day following the last day the benefit was paid to the parent.