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Written question asked by Andrew Snowden (Conservative) on Tuesday, 20 January 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 26 January 2026 (named day). It was answered by Dan Tomlinson (Labour) on Monday, 26 January 2026 on behalf of the Treasury.


Child Benefit

Question

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of families, who had their child benefit reinstated following the review into those who were suspended during the period of data-sharing between HMRC and the Home Office, were found to be eligible as a result of PAYE checks.

Answer

As HMRC informed the Treasury Select Committee in its letter dated 14 November 2025, it is unable to completely disaggregate the number of cases where eligibility was confirmed via a subsequent PAYE check from those where evidence was provided by the customer.

The information from the pilot remains HMRC’s best assessment of the effectiveness of the activity using international travel data to reduce error and fraud.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
107204
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Child benefit
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk