Late Payments of Child Benefit & Tax Credits

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to request the following information with regards to
those families who have just been granted refugee status or ILR
under the legacy exercise.

1. Why are child benefit claims expected to take AT LEAST 16 weeks
to be considered when this group of people clearly fit into those
considered vulnerable group & therefore need money to look after
their children as a matter of urgency as they will have been cut
off from NASS support?

2. Why do tax credit claims have no definite time frame to be
considered when this group of people clearly fit into those
considered vulnerable group & therefore need money to look after
their children as a matter of urgency as they will have been cut
off from NASS support?

3. What guidelines does the HMRC have in order to alleviate the
obvious poverty faced by these families while they wait months for
tax credits & child benefit claims to be processed?

4. While a crisis loan would help in such a case, what recourse do
these people have after they've exhausted their crisis loan & are
ineligible for another one as 26 weeks hasn't passed & their
circumstances remain unchanged & their tax credits & child benefits
are still unprocessed?

5. What procedures are put in place where these people are also
unable to access dentists, prescription medication, healthy start
vouchers, transport for hospital appointments etc as they have not
yet been issued with the relevant health certificates that
accompanies those awarded tax credits as their claims have not been
processed?

6. Is the HMRC aware of the wide reaching impact on child poverty
due to these time frames & what are they doing to alleviate this
situation?

7. Does the HMRC not prescribe to the Every Child Matters agenda as
all government departments have to & is this not a breach of this
agenda where children fall into poverty & malnutrition because of
unpaid child benefits & tax credits?

8. Why is the complaints department not available on the telephone?

9. What is the complaints procedure in place where the help line
staff take a complaint but no calls are ever made back to the
complainant to discuss the complaint, letters also go unanswered &
staff refuse to give out the telephone numbers to the complaints
department?

Yours faithfully,

C. Moyo