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Written question asked by Lord Hammond of Runnymede (Conservative) on Friday, 14 November 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 19 November 2008. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Wednesday, 26 November 2008 on behalf of the Treasury.

Child Benefit

Question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many nationals of each A8 country were receiving child benefit for a child or children living outside the UK at the end of September 2008; and in respect of how many such children child benefit was being paid on that date.
Answer

Around 7.5 million families are currently claiming child benefit for around 13 million children. Out of that total, at the end of September 2008, there were 26,180 child benefit awards to A8 nationals recorded as receiving child benefit for 42,759 children living in another EEA member state, which equates to around one-third of 1 per cent. of all child benefit awards. The UK makes these awards to comply with its obligations under EC social security co-ordinating regulations. The estimated breakdown by nationality is as follows:

Country Number of awards at 30 September 2008 Number of children included in awards
Czech Republic 159 262
Estonia 14 25
Hungary 56 91
Latvia 249 335
Lithuania 692 1,033
Poland 23,620 38,669
Slovakia 1,388 2,341
Slovenia 2 3
Total 26,180 42,759

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
483 c1886W; 237404
Session
2007-08
Subjects
Child benefit EU nationals
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk