Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to (a) reduce the potential impact of the Not for EU labelling requirement on GB goods sold in Northern Ireland on costs for businesses and (b) ensure that the (i) Duty Reimbursement Scheme and (ii) Trader Support Service provide effective support to those businesses.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme simplifies the requirements for movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. To be eligible, certain retail goods must be labelled as ‘Not for EU’. To ensure sufficient time for businesses to plan and prepare, the requirements were first communicated in 2023 and were introduced in phases. We have published detailed guidance to support businesses as well as providing 1:1 support as necessary. We continue to work closely with industry to support compliance.
We are committed to ensuring the Duty Reimbursement Scheme works smoothly, including by supporting businesses to access it. The procurement process to extend the Trader Support Service by a further five years, from 2026, is also underway. This procurement provides an opportunity for HMRC and the successful bidder to take into account user needs, to ensure value and to meet our wider technical and strategic priorities.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department has a timetable for implementing the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Windsor Framework by the Rt Hon Lord Murphy, published on 4 September 2025.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government is considering Lord Murphy’s recommendations and will provide a response, including relevant timeframes, by January 2026, in line with our legal obligations.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to ensure that projects funded by the Government through the City and Growth Deals initiative in Northern Ireland are delivered effectively; how progress will be monitored; and what assessment he has been made of the potential impact of that initiative on (a) the number jobs in and (b) long-term economic development of Northern Ireland.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The UK Government is investing £617 million through the four City and Growth Deals which cover the whole of Northern Ireland. The four City and Growth Deals are: Belfast Region (£350m); Derry-Londonderry City and Strabane (£50m); Mid South West (£126m); and Causeway Coast and Glens (£36m). The UK Government has also provided £55 million for the Inclusive Future Fund to address social deprivation in the North West region, which is part of the Derry-Londonderry City and Strabane District City Deal.
Each one of the Deals goes through a rigorous six stage development process to ensure the projects within the Deal are aligned to the strategic priorities of the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, as well as long-term economic growth within the corresponding region.
My officials meet regularly with the Northern Ireland Executive, Deal team and delivery partners, through the formal governance process. Each Deal is at a different stage of development, but the two Full Deal Documents of the Belfast Region City Deal and Derry-Londonderry City and Strabane District City Deal set out the impact they will have on their communities and regional economies.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Cabinet Office's press release entitled Child Benefit action to save £350 million from claimants abroad, published on 22 August 2025, for what reason her Department chose international travel data to monitor whether a claimant was outside of the UK for more than eight weeks; and for what reason (a) PAYE and (b) other data were not selected for this purpose.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Cabinet Office's press release entitled Child Benefit action to save £350 million from claimants abroad, published on 22 August 2025, how many Child Benefit claimants were erroneously identified as having been outside of the UK for more than eight weeks (a) during the pilot period and (b) since 22 August 2025.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps, with reference to the Cabinet Office's press release her Department is taking to rectify data on people erroneously identified as having been outside of the UK for more than eight weeks for Child Benefit purposes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Cabinet Office's press release entitled Child Benefit action to save £350 million from claimants abroad, published on 22 August 2025, what steps her Department is taking to identify people who were erroneously identified as fraudulently claiming Child Benefit on the grounds that they had been outside of the UK for more than eight weeks.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether with reference to the Cabinet Office's press release her Department has carried out an assessment of the pilot scheme to stop Child Benefit payments where a claimant had been outside the UK for more than eight weeks.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of high-quality apprenticeships for young people in the (a) digital and (b) STEM sectors.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners across the country, including those in the digital and STEM sectors, and support the industrial strategy.
As a first step, the government has introduced new foundation apprenticeships, which are an employment-based training offer that give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. The first seven foundation apprenticeships became available in August 2025 focussed on four industrial strategy and priority areas, including digital and engineering and manufacturing.
From April 2026, the government will enable employers to also use the growth and skills levy for new short courses in areas such as digital, artificial intelligence and engineering, to support Industrial Strategy sectors.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of redundancy payments associated with the planned redundancies in the South West London Integrated Care Board under the new NHS 10-Year Health Plan; and whether he plans to provide additional funding for those redundancy payments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board running costs and NHS provider corporate cost reductions in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.
We have recently announced the Spending Review settlement which provides an additional £29 billion of annual day-to-day spending in real terms by 2028/29 compared to 2023/24. We are now carefully reviewing how the settlement is prioritised, including making provision for redundancy costs. In due course, the National Health Service will be asked to incorporate this into the multi-year planning round which has now been launched with the publication of the Medium Term Planning Framework on 24 October 2025.