| Subject |
4,700
Bournemouth residents overpaid tax credits by £3,8 million
|
| Ref |
PR/06-138 |
| Date |
Wednesday
7th June 2006 |
Tobias Ellwood
MP demanded reassurance this afternoon that people in Bournemouth
would not be made to suffer further financial hardship owing to
the Government's overpayment of tax credits.
Tobias spoke
in a House of Commons Opposition Day debate to hold the Government
to account after HM Revenue and Customs released figures showing
almost half the payments made to households were wrong. Almost £2bn
has been overpaid for the second year in a row, causing stress and
financial insecurity to over 2m households, the majority of which
will have to pay the money back.
In Bournemouth
of 15,300 tax credits awards allocated almost half (7,000) were
incorrect. 4,700 households were overpaid by a total of £3.8
million while another 2,300 households were underpaid by a total
of £1.4 million.
Commenting on
the tax credit fiasco Tobias said:
"The Chancellor
Gordon Brown introduced a Tax Credit system which is now costing
the tax payer over £15bn a year. Failures in computer systems,
errors in administration and ever more complexities introduced to
an already confusing system now cause misery and financial worry
for almost half the people who apply.
The Chancellor
failed to attend the Commons debate leaving junior ministers to
answer for the litany of problems in our welfare system affecting
those very people on low incomes who require support the most.
Until the problems
in the tax credit system are rectified it will remain open to fraud
(estimated at £0.5bn a year) and nearly a million of the most
vulnerable families in Britain will continue to receive less than
they are supposed to."
|
