Thousands of British families facing food bank queues due to 'flawed' Home Office travel data have called for an urgent inquiry into how they were wrongly stripped of child benefit.
Conservative MP Andrew Snowden has condemned the government's anti-fraud benefits crackdown, saying that thousands of innocent parents had their essential payments suspended because of unreliable or incomplete travel data. He warned that the system was not only flawed but also "unacceptable", leaving families struggling to pay rent and even miss meals.
The issue came to light after HMRC revealed it had wrongly suspended child benefit from 23,500 families based on faulty Home Office data, which claimed some parents were going on holidays and failing to return. The Guardian and investigative website The Detail reported that many innocent families had been caught up in the crackdown, including those who had fled war zones like Ukraine.
John Vine, a former chief inspector of borders and immigration, has raised concerns about broader weaknesses in the UK's entry and exit recording systems, warning that the flaws may have implications beyond benefit claimants. He called on the home secretary to take action to address these issues urgently.
Experts say the Home Office used passenger name record data, which was originally intended for counter-terrorism and serious crime purposes, to flag suspicious cases. However, the use of this data has expanded in recent years, a phenomenon known as "function creep".
As families struggle to make ends meet due to the suspension of their child benefit payments, critics are demanding answers from the government about how this system was authorised and how it will be fixed. The issue highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability in the use of sensitive data by government agencies.
Conservative MP Andrew Snowden has condemned the government's anti-fraud benefits crackdown, saying that thousands of innocent parents had their essential payments suspended because of unreliable or incomplete travel data. He warned that the system was not only flawed but also "unacceptable", leaving families struggling to pay rent and even miss meals.
The issue came to light after HMRC revealed it had wrongly suspended child benefit from 23,500 families based on faulty Home Office data, which claimed some parents were going on holidays and failing to return. The Guardian and investigative website The Detail reported that many innocent families had been caught up in the crackdown, including those who had fled war zones like Ukraine.
John Vine, a former chief inspector of borders and immigration, has raised concerns about broader weaknesses in the UK's entry and exit recording systems, warning that the flaws may have implications beyond benefit claimants. He called on the home secretary to take action to address these issues urgently.
Experts say the Home Office used passenger name record data, which was originally intended for counter-terrorism and serious crime purposes, to flag suspicious cases. However, the use of this data has expanded in recent years, a phenomenon known as "function creep".
As families struggle to make ends meet due to the suspension of their child benefit payments, critics are demanding answers from the government about how this system was authorised and how it will be fixed. The issue highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability in the use of sensitive data by government agencies.
thousands of people, just trying to provide for their kids, and then BAM! Their child benefit gets suspended because of some dodgy travel data 
. I mean, what's the point of using passenger name records for counter-terrorism if it's gonna end up harming innocent families like this? 
It's all about accountability now, and I think an urgent inquiry is long overdue 
. We need to know how this system got approved in the first place and what's being done to fix it ASAP 
. And can we please just have some transparency around this whole thing? It's not like it's a secret operation or anything... 
with all these faulty travel data records 
️ for f**k sake! and it's not just that, it's also the fact that some families are struggling to pay rent and even miss meals 
meanwhile the gov is all like "oh noes our benefits system is flawed" 
.
. It's like, we know how to fix this stuff, but we're not doing it because of politics and bureaucracy.
. The data on government inefficiency and waste would show that just 1% of the UK's public spending goes towards preventing poverty, while a whopping 40% goes towards "other" purposes 
. It's time for some real change in this country!
we need to get to the bottom of this and fix it ASAP. 
️