Overview
- HMRC is reassessing 23,500 suspensions using PAYE data, aiming to finish within days and to reinstate and back-pay where continued UK employment is confirmed.
- Process changes include a one‑month window for families to respond before any suspension, stopping the use of Dublin travel data, and checking employment records and contacting claimants before halting payments.
- Media investigations found high error rates, with about 46% of targeted families still living in the UK and particularly acute problems in Northern Ireland where 78% were misidentified and 129 families were flagged when only 28 had left.
- The pilot, credited with £17m in prevented payments over 12 months, formed part of a wider anti-fraud drive reported to target £350m of savings over five years.
- Parliament’s Treasury Select Committee has demanded answers on safeguards and accuracy, and peers have sought the pilot’s business case and data-protection assessments, with HMRC pledging to respond.