Tax Credits (Hansard, 10 May 2004)

§ Mr. Willetts
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to complete the process whereby families in receipt of income support and jobseeker's allowance move on to the child tax credit. [169393]

§ Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 29 April 2004]: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne) on 11 March 2004, Official Report, column 1645W.

§ Mr. Willetts
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in receipt of(a) income support and (b) jobseeker's allowance have been moved on to the child tax credit. [169395]

§ Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 10 May 2004]: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Romford (Mr. Rosindell) on 11 March 2004, Official Report, column 1645W.

§ John Barrett
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will compensate those people who have received tax credit payments above the level to which they were entitled because of administrative errors and who are to have future payments reduced as a result. [170050]

§ Bob Spink
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what compensation is available to people whose(a) working tax credit and (b) family tax credit payments are improperly stopped; and if he will make a statement. [171090]

§ Dawn Primarolo
I refer the hon. Members to what I said during the debate in the House on 7 July 2003,Official Report, column 860.

§ Mr. Willetts
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects awards for(a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit in 2003–04 to be finalised. [170220]

§ Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 4 May 2004]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield (Richard Burden) on 19 November 2003, Official Report, columns 1099–1100W.

§ Bob Spink
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make a statement on the payment of working tax credit from the start of the current financial year and the adequacy of computer systems; [171088]
(2) if he will make a statement on the payment of family tax credit from the start of the current financial year and the adequacy of computer systems. [171089]

§ Dawn Primarolo
The new IT systems for tax credits were introduced as planned. As at 5 April 2004, there are 6.0 million families benefiting from tax credits. The publication date of the next issue of tax credits statistics by the Office for National Statistics will be announced in due course.

§ Geraldine Smith
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment has been made of hardship caused to families as a result of the way tax credit overpayments are being recovered. [165418]

§ Dawn Primarolo
Additional payments were made in 2003–04, to help ensure that paying back tax credits overpayments did not cause hardship. In addition, 151W because of the increased generosity of Child and Working Tax Credits the overall level of support to low and moderate income families is higher, reducing the risk of hardship.
The Inland Revenue's Code of Practice 26, "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?", sets out the rules that the Inland Revenue follows when adjusting an award to recover an overpayment.
As the Code sets out, the maximum amounts by which payments would be reduced is 10 per cent. for claimants receiving the maximum award; 100 per cent. for claimants receiving only the family element of Child Tax Credit and 25 per cent. for all other claimants.

§ Mr. Laurence Robertson
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the amounts of over-payments made to people through the working tax credit scheme; how many people have been overpaid; what arrangements are in place to enable people to manage to pay back these amounts; and if he will make a statement; [166041]

§ Mr. Wood
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will conduct a review of the(a) investigation and (b) recovery of over-payments of (i) child and (ii) working tax credits by the Inland Revenue; and if he will make provision for claimants to appeal against (a) overpayment decisions and (b) recovery actions. [167058]

§ Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 19 April 2004]: I refer the hon. Members to the replies I gave the hon. Member for South Down (Mr. McGrady) on 3 February 2004, Official Report, column 828W, and the hon. Member for Norfolk North (Mr. Lamb) on 22 March 2004, Official Report, column 664W.