Health & Disability

At North East Derbyshire Citizens Advice Bureau we can advise you on a whole range of Health and Disability issues.

Resources and Articles

Related News

Tens of thousands of claimants and other low-income families missing out on child trust fund payments

3rd June 2008

As reported by rightsnet

Revenue failing to make automatic payments, government confirms

The Revenue has failed to make automatic child trust fund payments to tens of thousands of tax credit claimants and other low-income families, the government has confirmed.

With the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) having recently expressed concern about how many families had actually received the £250 'additional' child trust fund payment - that should be made automatically to those eligible for full child tax credit with household income at or below the child tax credit income threshold - in evidence last week to a Treasury Committee inquiry, Economic Secretary to the Treasury Kitty Ussher confirmed that -

'... it has recently come to our attention .... that there is a discrepancy between our forecast of what the number of additional payments should be and the actual amount paid.'

The problem has arisen as a result of an 'technical thing', the Minister added, and tens of thousands payments could be affected

'It is due to the way the various computers at HMRC ... talk to each other around people who are eligible for benefit payments and actually paying them out the additional Child Trust Fund payments.

... I think it is tens of thousands for the IT programming error that we know about [and] there is an additional discrepancy, which is also tens of thousands, that we have not quite got to the bottom of.'

However, no child will lose out, the Minister reassured -

'Some of the payments will be made late and they will be compensated in a way which means that they have a generous compensation based on the interest they would have received according to the best cash rates in the market.'


Useful Links

Last updated: January 21, 2008


Did you find the information on this page useful?