Thousands of British families have been wrongly stripped of essential child benefit payments after government departments used flawed travel data that failed to record their return to the UK.
Systemic Failures in Anti-Fraud Measures
HMRC suspended child benefit for 23,500 families based on erroneous information from the Home Office that documented flights out of the country but not return journeys. The revelations have sparked demands for an urgent independent inquiry into what Conservative MP Andrew Snowden describes as "simply unacceptable" system failures.
Snowden, who serves as the MP for Fylde and as the party's assistant whip, stated that the government "must take immediate and transparent action" to address the problems within the anti-fraud benefits crackdown. He emphasised that child benefit provides vital support for many households, often making the difference between managing financially and falling into hardship.
Real Families Facing Real Hardship
The treasury committee, chaired by Labour MP Meg Hillier, has joined the Liberal Democrats in demanding answers from the government about the flawed system. Snowden highlighted that "even a short suspension can cause severe hardship" for low-income households, potentially leading to missed rent payments, accumulating debt, or reliance on food banks.
Dozens of affected families have shared their distressing experiences, with many reporting they felt treated like criminals despite their innocence. Among those caught in the system failure were a family fleeing the war in Ukraine, a parent who never actually took the flight recorded by the Home Office because she was hospitalised with sepsis, and several individuals who had already stopped receiving the benefit.
Broader Border System Concerns
John Vine, former chief inspector of borders and immigration, expressed concern that these cases reveal broader weaknesses in the UK's entry and exit recording systems. He noted that the system "should be fairly accurate" given its importance beyond benefit administration, suggesting the home secretary should direct an urgent review of border recording processes.
Vine observed that poor record-keeping and unreliable data have been recurring themes in immigration reports dating back to his tenure from 2008 to 2014. The most recent annual report from the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, published in September, confirmed that Home Office data remains "often incomplete, inconsistent, or simply wrong."
Privacy experts have raised concerns about "function creep" in how passenger name record data - originally collected for counter-terrorism and serious crime purposes - is being used for benefit administration. Sana Farrukh of Privacy International warned that this represents exactly the type of mission expansion that privacy advocates have long cautioned against.
An HMRC spokesperson offered an apology to those affected, stating: "We're very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly." The department has implemented immediate changes to the process, now giving customers one month to respond before payments are suspended, while maintaining confidence that the majority of suspensions remain accurate.
