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4 Jul 2005 : Column 94W—continued
Revenue and Customs (Haverfordwest)
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to change the status of the HM Revenue and Customs office in Haverfordwest; and if he will make a statement on what changes he expects to make to the numbers of jobs in the office; [8191]
(2) what plans he has to reorganise local offices following the merger of HM Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue; and if he will make a statement on the expected change in numbers employed; [8192]
(3) what the net change in the numbers of jobs in HM Revenue and Customs in Wales will be following reorganisation of local offices. [8193]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 28 June 2005, Official Report, column 1428W, to the hon. Member for Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr (Adam Price).
Tax Credits
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of overpayment of tax credits are being investigated by tax credit offices; how many cases of overpayment have been resolved since the present tax credits were introduced; and how many cases of overpayment are awaiting action. [7842]
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Dawn Primarolo: At 31 May 2005, HM Revenue and Customs had received around 271,000 requests to reconsider recovery of an overpayment of tax credits on the grounds of official error. Of these, 151,000 had been decided upon and the balance were awaiting a decision.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated take-up rate is for (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit; and how many families he estimates are entitled but not claiming. [8108]
Dawn Primarolo: On average for 2003–04 5.5 million families benefited from child tax credit and working tax credit and initial analysis suggests that in its first year, child tax credit achieved an estimated take-up rate of 80 per cent. by caseload. Further work to produce final take-up rate estimates for child tax credit and working tax credit for 2003–04 is continuing and we expect this analysis to be completed towards the end of 2005–06.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of tax credit overpayment was in the 2003–04 financial year in Peterborough constituency. [8444]
Dawn Primarolo: The number of tax credit awards for 2003–04 underpaid and overpaid after finalisation are available for each region, parliamentary constituency and local authority in the publication Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Finalised Awards 2003–04. Supplement on Payments in 2003–04. Geographical Analyses". This is available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid in tax credits since 2003, broken down by (a) London borough and (b) local authority in Essex. [8526]
Dawn Primarolo: Information on payments of working and child tax credits is not available below national level.
Data about tax credits awards by reference to geographical areas such as Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities can be found at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats. htm.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government are taking to stop overpayments of tax credits; and if he will make a statement. [8528]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made to the House on 26 May 2005, Official Report, column 802, on tax credits.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many compensation payments have been made by HM Revenue and Customs for tax credit problems in (a) 2002–03, (b) 2003–04, (c) 2004–05 and (d) 2005–06 to date; what the total value is of such payments for each year; and if he will make a statement. [8564]
Dawn Primarolo:
For 2002–03 and 2003–04, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 7 February 2005, Official Report, columns 1244–45W.
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Around 20,000 compensation payments to tax credits claimants were made in 2004–05 with a value of around £1.24 million. In the two months ending 31 May 2005, around 1,600 such payments had been made with a value of around £187,000.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the total cost of administering tax credits in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06; and if he will make a statement. [8565]
Dawn Primarolo: The cost of managing and paying the child and working tax credits in the financial year 2003–04 appears in note 3 to the Trust Statement in the Inland Revenue Annual Report and Accounts for that year. Figures for 2004–05 and 2005–06 will not be available until the Trust Statements for these years are released.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the number of tax credit (a) overpayments and (b) underpayments in 2004–05; and if he will make a statement. [8567]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of numbers and values of overpayments or underpayments for 2004–05 awards at 5 April 2005 will not be available until after family circumstances and incomes for 2004–05 have been finalised. The most recent estimates available for the number of overpaid awards and the value of these overpayments is for awards at 5 April 2004 based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2003–04. They appear in the HMRC publication Child and Working Tax Credits Annual statistics. 2003–04 Payments." The estimates are based on samples and are subject to significant sampling uncertainty.
This publication can be found on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the total amount of tax credits overpaid in 2003–04 has so far been recovered; and if he will make a statement. [8569]
Dawn Primarolo: No estimates can be made until the departmental accounts for 2004–05 have been prepared and the Trust Statement published.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit payments have been made to the wrong bank account; and if he will make a statement. [8570]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit awards were made in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05 to households with incomes of (i)£40,000 per annum and (ii) £50,000 per annum; and if he will make a statement. [8572]
Dawn Primarolo:
The number of awards made to families in 2003–04 whose finalised income in that year was (i) £40,000 to £50,000 and (ii) over £50,000 is contained in the publication Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised awards 2003–04.
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Supplement on payments in 2003–04". This is available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm.
Figures for 2004–05 are not yet available.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit overpayments were not clawed back in 2003–04 due to the operation of the £2,500 disregard; and if he will make a statement. [8573]
Dawn Primarolo: It is not possible reliably to estimate the number of extra families who would have had an overpayment if the disregard had not applied.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the average waiting time to get through on the public tax credit helpline for each month since January 2003; and if he will make a statement. [8575]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table shows average waiting times for those calls that were answered by tax credits helpline advisers in 2003–04, 2004–05 and the current tax year.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what date the redesigned tax credit award notices will be available for (a) publication and (b) consultation; and if he will make a statement. [8578]
Dawn Primarolo:
HMRC has consulted representative groups and worked closely with them to improve the award notice, and the revised award notice has been warmly welcomed by them. The revised award notices will be issued to claimants from April 2006.
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Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the number of tax credit overpayments in 2003–04 that were caused by HM Revenue and Customs error; and if he will make a statement. [8579]
Dawn Primarolo: There were well-publicised IT system problems in the early part of 2003–04. One particular software problem led to some incorrect payments being made to some claimants as detailed in the Report of the Comptroller & Auditor General for 2003–04. This is available on the HMRC website at: http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/pdfs/report2004.pdf.
Overpayments can arise for a number of reasons or from a combination of factors, of which HMRC error may be just one, e.g. when a claimant's entitlement varies following a change in their circumstances. No reliable estimate of the amount of overpayments resulting solely from HMRC error for 2003–04 is available.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many overpayments of tax credits during 2003–04 were recovered before the end of the financial year. [8580]
Dawn Primarolo: Overpayments of tax credits are not identified until family circumstances and income are finalised after the end of the financial year. However, tax credit awards can be adjusted during the year to take account of a change in circumstances or income. Where the amount payable is reduced, payments are adjusted with the aim of paying out the right amount for the year as a whole. This is explained in HMRC's Code of Practice 26 What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?", available on our website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/cop26.htm.This is part of the normal operation of the tax credit system, and no count of such occurrences is maintained.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress in resolving computer problems relating to tax credit payments. [8583]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the written statement I made on 26 May 2005, Official Report, column 22WS in particular the fourth of the six measures I have agreed with the Chairman of HMRC.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the total cost of the £2,500 disregard for increases in annual income for tax credit entitlement for 2003–04; and if he will make a statement. [8584]
Dawn Primarolo: The final entitlement to tax credits in 2003–04 would have been about £800 million lower without the £2,500 disregard. This estimate takes no account of behavioural differences.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many letters have been received by (a) his Department and (b) the Inland Revenue from hon. Members on tax credits for each month since January 2003; and if he will make a statement. [8587]
Dawn Primarolo:
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 10 February 2005, Official Report, column 1685W, and to the reply I gave on 21 February 2005, Official Report, columns 75W-76W to the hon. Member for Northavon (Steve Webb).
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Details for the further period 1 January 2005 to 31 May 2005 are given as follows:
Month | Number of letters from hon. Members to TCO |
|---|---|
| January 2005 | 798 |
| February 2005 | 906 |
| March 2005 | 1,218 |
| April 2005 | 763 |
| May 2005 | 607 |
In addition to the letters received by the Tax Credit Office, Treasury Ministers and Inland Revenue Board members received around 950 letters from hon. Members in the same period, 1 January 2005 to 31 May 2005.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of tax credit payments have had an error of some kind, in each year from 2003–04 to 2005–06; and if he will make a statement. [8592]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 7 February 2005, Official Report, column 1245W.
The Department will report against its targets for 2005–06 in due course.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit award notices were sent out in total in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06 to date; and if he will make a statement. [8597]
Dawn Primarolo: There are more than 6 million families benefiting from tax credits at present. Each adult included in a tax credit award receives an award notice when the initial claim has been decided, each time a change of circumstance is reported, and another after the end of the year when their claim is renewed.
The number of tax credit awards notices issued in the tax year 2003–04 was about 20.5 million.
In the tax year 2004–05 the number issued was about 34 million. The increase in the number issued reflects additional award notices issued when awards for 2003–04 were finalised.
In the tax year 2005–06 to date almost 11 million have been issued.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit have been more expensive to administer than the working families tax credit; and if he will make a statement. [8598]
Dawn Primarolo: The administrative costs of managing and paying child and working tax credits in 2003–04, expressed as percentages of total payments, were very similar to the working and disabled person's tax credits regime.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his estimate is of the average time taken to respond to a letter of complaint from a member of the public regarding tax credits in each month from January 2003 to June 2005; and if he will make a statement. [8853]
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Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available. HMRC aim to deal with 80 per cent. of correspondence within 15 working days and 95 per cent. of correspondence within 40 working days.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the statement of 22 June 2005 by the Paymaster General, Official Report, columns 801–14, on tax credits, if he will change the payments page of an award notice to draw tax credit recipients' attention to the availability of additional tax credits. [8856]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC are looking at options for improving the information they give claimants about overpayments. This includes highlighting on the award notice the availability of the extra help customers can get if their payments have decreased.
Where there is an overpayment, the award notice sent to claimants shows the amount and how it will be recovered. The accompanying notes tell claimants that HMRC's approach to overpayments is outlined in their Code of Practice 26 (CoP26). CoP26 is published on the HMRC website. They send a copy to claimants who write to them about their overpayment. Claimants who want to dispute recovery of their overpayment do not have to complete form TC846 but HMRC will send them one if they have not already provided the information needed to consider the position.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has updated his forecast for the price of a barrel of oil as set out in his Budget report. [8952]
John Healey: The oil price assumption will be updated in the pre-Budget report later this year.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1)how many instances of recovery of overpayments or excess payments have been disputed by tax credit recipients in each of the last two years; [8106]
(2) how many TC846 forms have been received in each of the last two years. [8107]
Dawn Primarolo: In 2004–05, around 217,000 claimants had returned form TC846, or had otherwise been recorded as requesting the write off of their overpayments on the grounds of official error. In April and May 2005, the Tax Credit Office received around 54, 000 similar requests.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of administering (a) family credit, (b) working families tax credit and disabled person's tax credit and (c) child tax credit and working tax credit in each of the last eight years in which credits were payable in (i) cash and (ii) real terms. [6199]
Dawn Primarolo:
The cost of managing and paying the child and working tax credits in the financial year 2003–04 appears in Note 3 to the Trust Statement in the Inland Revenue Annual Report and Accounts for that year. The costs of managing and paying working families' and disabled person's tax credits are shown in the Inland Revenue Trust Accounts, at Note 3 for 1999–2000 to 2001–02 and at Note 4 for 2002–03. I understand from the Department of Work and Pensions that the estimated annual costs for family credit in Great Britain are given in the annual reports of the former Department of Social Security.
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The costs of managing and paying of family credit, working families tax credit and disabled person's tax credit, and child tax credit and working tax credit in each of the last eight in real terms were as follows:
(30)Number of awards to all families, as at November of each year.
(31)All recipients, as at October for DPTC and November for WFTC.
(32)Average number of families benefiting on each day over the year.
The comparison over time is affected by the absence of children's tax credit from the costs of managing and paying tax credits for 2001–02 and 2002–03 as this was included in the Inland Revenue's routine work and not separately identified in running costs.
As a proportion of total payments made each year, administration costs have remained stable since 1999, at around 2.5 per cent. to 3 per cent.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value is of tax credit overpayments written off in each month since April 2003. [7995]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC wrote off 373,000 overpayments to a value of around £37 million following the identification of a software error that affected some 455,000 households in April and May 2003. This is explained in the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General 2003–04, which can be found in the board's annual report at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/report2004.pdf
Overpayments for 2003–04 were only finally identified after April 2004 when HMRC started finalising awards for that year and the Department began considering disputed overpayments in June 2004.
The monthly breakdown of overpayments written off each month from June 2004 on the grounds of official error is as follows:
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Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the statement of 22 June 2005, Official Report, columns 801–14 by the Paymaster General on tax credits, what estimate he has made of the number of cases in which in-year recovery of excess tax credits has occurred for recipients of (a) income support and (b) income-based jobseeker's allowance; what the average value was of the excess recovered; what proportion of these cases were disputed; and in how many of these cases (i) the overpayments were written off and (ii) additional tax credits were awarded. [8022]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.
Tax credit awards can be adjusted during the year to take account of a change in circumstances or income. Where the amount payable is reduced, payments are adjusted with the aim of paying out the right amount for the year as a whole. This is explained in HMRC's Code of Practice 26 What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?", which is accessible at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/cop26.htm. This is part of the normal operation of the tax credit system, and no count of such occurrences is maintained.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the statement of 22 June 2005, Official Report, columns 801–14 by the Paymaster General, on tax credits, what assessment he has made of the level of awareness among tax credit office staff of the circumstances in which additional tax credits are payable; and what additional (a) training and (b) guidance he plans to give to ensure appropriate use of additional tax credits. [8023]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC have work in hand to enhance the guidance helpline advisers follow so that it will prompt them to refer to the availability of additional tax credits in situations where they could prevent financial hardship.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the statement of 22 June 2005, Official Report, columns 801–14 by the Paymaster General, on tax credits, what timetable has been set to train tax credit staff on the appropriate use of interim payments; and what new guidance is to be produced on issuing interim payments. [8026]
Dawn Primarolo:
Existing guidance for HMRC staff tells them that, where a customer is not receiving system-generated payments, they may need to set up manual payments. HMRC are reminding advisers to follow this guidance. And they have work in hand to further enhance the guidance so that it will prompt helpline
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advisers to refer to the availability of additional tax credits in situations where they could prevent financial hardship.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when discussions with EDS on compensation for problems with the tax credit IT system were started; how much compensation has been paid by EDS; and if he will make a statement. [8105]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC and EDS have for some time, been engaged in a process of discussions which the Department hoped would lead to a satisfactory out-of-court resolution to the claim against EDS. No such settlement has yet resulted and no compensation has been paid. Negotiations continue which may lead to a financial settlement and, while that is the case, it is not appropriate to disclose confidential and privileged information, the quantum of HMRC's claim or the timetable for negotiations. HMRC is clear that if it is not possible to reach an acceptable negotiated settlement in the near future, it will commence legal proceedings.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit overpayments there were in 2004–05; and what the value was. [8110]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of numbers and values of overpayments or underpayments for 2004–05 awards at 5 April 2005 will not be available until after family circumstances and incomes for 2004–05 have been finalised. The most recent estimates available for the number of overpaid awards and the value of these overpayments is for awards at 5 April 2004 based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2003–04. They appear in the HMRC publication Child and Working Tax Credits Annual statistics. 2003–04 Payments." The estimates are based on samples and are subject to significant sampling uncertainty. This publication can be found on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the statement of 22 June 2005, Official Report, columns 801–14, by the Paymaster General, on tax credits, if he will change the payments page of an award notice to (a) advise tax credit recipients that recovery of an overpayment can be challenged, (b) draw claimants' attention to the code of practice 26 and (c) draw claimants' attention to form TC846; and if he will change the guidance notes accompanying the award notice to give greater prominence to how the Revenue can help with financial hardship. [8124]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC are looking at options for improving the information they give claimants about overpayments. This includes highlighting on the award notice the availability of the extra help claimants can get if their payments have decreased.
Where there is an overpayment, the award notice sent to claimants shows the amount and how it will be recovered. The accompanying notes tell claimants that HMRC's approach to overpayments is outlined in their code of practice 26 (CoP26). CoP26 is published on the HMRC website. They send a copy to claimants who
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write to them about their overpayment. Claimants who want to dispute recovery of their overpayment do not have to complete form TC846 but HMRC will send them one if they have not already provided the information needed to consider the position.
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will revise the operation of tax credits complaints procedures so that individual case officers within HM Revenue and Customs are assigned to each case. [8184]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs deal with complaints about tax credits in accordance with the policy and procedures set out in their Code of Practice1: 'Putting things right'. Individual complaints handlers, who are members of dedicated teams, are assigned to each complaint and remain responsible for it until it is resolved.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what legal advice he has received in relation to recoveryof overpaid tax credits; and if he will make a statement. [8604]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the letter I sent him today.
Mr. Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many requests to reconsider the recovery of overpayments of working tax credit were received in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005. [8847]
Dawn Primarolo: Overpayments for 2003–04 were only finalised after April 2004 when HMRC started finalising tax credits awards for that year and the Department began considering disputed overpayments in June 2004.
In 2004–05, around 217,000 claimants had returned form TC846, or had otherwise been recorded as requesting the write off of their overpayments on the grounds of official error. In April and May 2005, the tax credit office received around 54,000 similar requests. There are no separate figures relating to working tax credit.
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