HMRC trial of child benefit crackdown wrongly suspected fraud in 46% of cases

"Home Office travel records used in a trial of a controversial anti-fraud crackdown that under which thousands of parents lost their child benefit were so flawed that almost half of the families initially flagged as having emigrated were still living in the UK, it has emerged. The pilot scheme saved HMRC 17m but left 46% of families targeted incorrectly suspected of fraud, a margin of error far in excess of the 1% to 5% scientifically acceptable."

"Relying on Home Office data for punitive purposes is always going to be problematic, said Colin Yeo, an immigration barrister at Garden Court Chambers. The detailed background to the anti-fraud initiative is not yet known, but it was quite alarming to see Home Office data used when the data so obviously doesn't bear the weight that they are placing on it, he said."

"The data has emerged two weeks after an investigation by the Guardian and the investigative website the Detail revealed that thousands of families had had their benefits stopped as part of a government crackdown on benefit fraud. Cases including one woman who had her benefits stopped after booking a flight to Italy that she never boarded because one of her children had an epileptic seizure at the departure gate."

A pilot using Home Office travel records to detect child benefit fraud misidentified a large share of families as having emigrated. The scheme saved HMRC 17m but 46% of targeted families were incorrectly suspected of fraud, exceeding scientifically accepted error margins. In Northern Ireland 78% were wrongly identified and 129 families were flagged as having left when only 28 had actually done so. MPs called for urgent investigation after constituents had benefits stopped. Experts warned that Home Office data are unreliable for punitive use. Individual cases include families losing payments despite never boarding booked flights or having trips cancelled.

Read at www.theguardian.com