Government criticised again over tax credit fiasco. (Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats)

Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats <info@garstonld.org.uk>

Government criticised again over tax credit fiasco.

January 29, 2006 12:32 PM

money going down a drain A House of Commons select committee has today criticised the government over the failings of the child and working family tax credit system.

The Public Administration committee's report follows several other damning reports from organisations like Citizen's Advice and the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

The committee, chaired by a Labour MP and with a majority of Labour members says the tax credit system isn't doing the job it was meant to and that the system is treating people unfairly.

Figures highlighted last year by the Liberal Democrats showed that around one third of the payments made to people in Garston constituency had been wrong. That meant that in many cases the government was trying to get money back from low income families, driving many into debt. The wrong payments were made despite efforts by recipients to get the figures corrected. The Liberal Democrats called for the government to write off the wrong payments in every case in which it, or its computer system, was the reason for the mistake.

Says Garston Lib Dem spokesperson, Paula Keaveney:

"This is a scheme designed to help people on low incomes. Yet the very people struggling with it, being driven into debt and incredible stress, are those on low incomes. The government needs to sort this out now and stop passing the buck"