§ Miss HoeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what checks operate to prevent those living abroad receiving child benefit paid into a United Kingdom bank account; and what estimate his Department has made of the amount of money thus claimed. [14751]
§ Mr. Andrew MitchellChild benefit is normally payable only to those who are resident in the UK. Exceptions are made for temporary absences abroad for up to eight weeks, and for longer periods in certain circumstances where a child is absent abroad for education or medical purposes. When people leave the country, payment of child benefit terminates after the eighth week. A number of different mechanisms are used to prompt notification by those leaving the country for longer than eight weeks.
The most commonly identified situation where payment could continue into a United Kingdom bank account despite a lack of entitlement is where a person from 710W abroad returns home without notifying the child benefit centre. Special inquiries are made in cases where this is thought to be a possibility.
Operation Rattle was launched in November 1995 to deter this type of abuse. To date, cases have been found which, if action had not been taken, could have led to expenditure of up to £8 million.