Peter
Viggers, MP for the Gosport constituency, yesterday questioned
the Government on the poor performance of the Tax Credit
system.
He asked the Paymaster General, Dawn Primarolo, whether
she was aware that her complacency did not reflect the distress
and hardship that so many families experienced, and added
that even if the incompetence was ironed out of the system,
overpayment and the clawback of money caused intense difficulties
for poorer families.
Peter said after
the debate, “Over the past few years,
I have been contacted by dozens of constituents with Tax
Credit problems. Many have been hit with demands for repayment
of large sums of money – even though they might have
repeatedly queried their entitlement to these payments in
the first place.
“The concept of writing off smaller overpayments will
not help the many families who have been overpaid by £600, £700
or more due to errors which are not their fault. As the situation
now stands, the Government tries to clawback this money either
by repayment or by taking it out of the next year’s
award – leaving the family struggling for money.
“The Tax
Credit system is in chaos and people who rely upon this
extra money should not be burdened with the
worry that at some point in the future they will be faced
with a demand to pay back hundreds of pounds.” |
