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Written question asked by Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 14 January 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 January 2026. It was answered by Dan Tomlinson (Labour) on Thursday, 22 January 2026 on behalf of the Treasury.

Child Benefit

Question

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of Child Benefit claims that were suspended by HM Revenue and Customs on the basis of suspected emigration and were subsequently found to be compliant; what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the decision to suspend payments before completing PAYE cross-checks; what steps she is taking to ensure that Child Benefit compliance activity is based on complete and accurate data; and what steps she is taking to ensure prompt reinstatement and appropriate redress for families whose Child Benefit was wrongly suspended.

Answer

HMRC’s Chief Executive wrote to the Treasury Select Committee on 14 November 2025 about this matter including the corrective action that HMRC has taken and its approach to redress. This letter was subsequently published by the Committee on 18 November 2025.

For the number of Child Benefit claims I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to Question 104272 on 14 January 2026.

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Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
105814
Session
2024-26
Related items
Child Benefit
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Child benefit Maladministration
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk