Thousands of parents are to be stripped of their Child Benefit payments under a new Labour clampdown on the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) benefit.
A Government initiative targeting Child Benefit fraud will recover £350million across five years by preventing payments to claimants who have relocated overseas.
This latest scheme targeting fraudsters involves deploying more than 200 investigators from next month, a significant increase from the current 15-person team.
According to the Government, this enforcement effort utilises international travel records to identify recipients who have left Britain but continue receiving payments.
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Child Benefit payments will be stripped from thousands of parents
|GETTY
The expansion follows a trial programme that demonstrated efficiency in detecting fraudulent claims. Officials describe the initiative as part of broader reforms aimed at ensuring benefits reach only eligible recipients whilst protecting taxpayer funds.
Figures found that the trial programme identified 2,600 individuals who had departed the UK while continuing to receive Child Benefit payments from the state.
Operating with only 15 staff members, the pilot prevented approximately £17million in improper payments during a period of less than twelve months.
This represents savings exceeding £1million per investigaton. The Public Sector Fraud Authority collaborated with the Home Office and HMRC to conduct the pilot scheme.
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HMRC is responsible for administering Child Benefit
| GETTYTheir approach involved analysing a sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records against international travel databases to identify potential cases of fraud.
Child Benefit supports approximately 6.9 million households and 11.9 million children across Britain, representing one of the country's most extensively utilised benefits programmes.
HMRC administers the scheme and stipulates that recipients forfeit eligibility after spending more than eight weeks abroad, except in exceptional situations.Recipients must notify HMRC when their overseas absence exceeds this duration.
The Digital Economy Act enables authorities to cross-reference benefit records with travel information, allowing specialist HMRC investigators to verify each case individually.
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It should be noted that human review remains central to the process, with HMRC contacting households directly during investigations to ensure swift resolution of any discrepancies.
Cabinet Office Minister Georgia Gould emphasised the Labour Government's determination to halt improper benefit claims.
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Parents could fill National Insurance record gaps via Child Benefit | GETTY"This Government is putting a stop to people claiming benefits when they aren't eligible to do so," she stated.
"From September, we'll have ten times as many investigators saving hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer's money.
"If you're claiming benefits you're not entitled to, your time is up."
The Government acknowledges that not all incorrect claims stem from deliberate fraud, with some resulting from genuine misunderstandings.
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