Home Office travel records used in a trial of a controversial anti-fraud crackdown under which thousands of parents lost their child benefit were so flawed that almost half of the families initially flagged as having emigrated were still living in the UK, it has emerged.
The pilot scheme saved HMRC £17m but left 46% of the families targeted incorrectly suspected of fraud, a margin of error far in excess of the 1% to 5% scientifically acceptable.
In Northern Ireland, 78% were incorrectly identified as not having returned from trips abroad and 129 families were flagged during the pilot as having left the countrywhen only 28 had actually done so.
Kim Johnson, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, called for an urgent investigation after being contacted by several constituents who had their benefits stopped.
The results of the pilot raise fundamental questions about using Home Office data to infer fraud, experts have said.
“Relying on Home Office data for punitive purposes is always going to be problematic,” said Colin Yeo, an immigration barrister at Garden Court Chambers.
The detailed background to the anti-fraud initiative is not yet known, but Yeo said it was “quite alarming” to see Home Office data used “when the data so obviously doesn’t bear the weight that they are placing on it.”
The data has emerged two weeks after an investigation by the Guardian and the investigative website the Detail revealed that thousands of families had had their benefits stopped as part of a government crackdown on benefit fraud.
Cases including one woman who had her benefits stopped after booking a flight to Italy that she never boarded because one of her children had an epileptic seizure at the departure gate. Another told of losing benefits despite not taking a flight she had booked because a wedding she was going to attend had been cancelled.
The Liberal Democrats and the Green party have raised concerns in parliament.
The Lib Dem peer Tim Clement–Jones has asked the government in a written parliamentary question to explain why it had “not published the business case and data protection impact assessments”. The Green peer Natalie Bennett has asked which internal assessment of procedures had been put in place since the child benefit freezes came to light.
The Guardian and the Detail first reported last month that hundreds of families in Northern Ireland had had their benefits stopped after they returned to the UK via Dublin airport.
It then emerged that about 23,500 letters cutting child benefit had been sent to parents across the country including in Rochdale, Liverpool, London, Brighton and Glasgow.
HMRC has said it will no longer use data on travel through Dublin airport to infer fraud because it is part of the common travel area, and that it not stop benefits without cross-checking with PAYE records and the person concerned first.
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Parents said they felt they had been treated like criminals after receiving the letters. Some said they were still arriving this week, more than a week after HMRC apologised for the distress it had caused.
Some parents have reported swift and courteous responses from the dedicated team HMRC has put in place to deal with incorrect child benefit suspensions.
Others, however, have said they are unable to get through to the helpline, and some foreign nationals report that customer service staff are still insisting they submit extensive evidence to prove they are not fraudsters.
Angela, who called the HMRC helpline nine times in an hour on Wednesday and more than 20 times on Friday to no avail said: “I have spent the whole day requesting letters from schools, nursery, the GP, while my partner finds bank statements, and we both try to dig out our travel information. Ryanair cannot provide us with a confirmation of travel letter because we flew in and out of Spain in April 2022, longer ago than their three-year cut-off.
“I was only out of the country for three days, and my partner and child for one week.
“I have found it quite upsetting to be so accused, when I am diligent about fulfilling HMRC requirements as an individual, a company director and a charity trustee.”
A spokesperson for HMRC said: “We’re very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly. We have taken immediate action to update the process, giving customers one month to respond before payments are suspended.
“We remain committed to protecting taxpayers’ money and are confident that the majority of suspensions are accurate.”
