Draft Tax Credits Reviews and Appeals (Amendment) Order 2020

Abena Oppong-Asare Excerpts

Monday 11th January 2021 General Committees

[Abena Oppong-Asare (Erith and Thamesmead) (Lab)]

I will not speak for long; given the brevity of the draft order, I hope we can address our concerns briskly. The order not only fixes an error in a 2014 statutory instrument, as the Minister pointed out, but seems to improve the legal framework for people whose claim for a relevant disability benefit is determined in their favour, so we will not push for a vote today, but the Minister will understand that the Opposition like to be thorough, so I will ask him to explain two points to the Committee, and to provide assurance on a third.

First, we fully accept that everyone is human, and that minor errors in drafting legislation will occur, especially in things such as cross-references. It is testimony to the immense skill of the amazing staff in the office of the parliamentary counsel that mistakes in our legislation are not more common. Will the Minister outline how and when exactly the error referred to in article 2(4)(a) of the order was identifed? For six years, during which the provisions were administered, it was not spotted and rectified; that seems a very long time.

Secondly, can the Minister outline something of the history of why it proved necessary to have article 2(5), which inserts proposed new section 21C of the Tax Credits Act 2002? It would be helpful to be clear about the circumstances that the section addresses; how often the issue arose before this order was drafted; how many people were materially affected by the section’s absence; and what the financial benefit to them would have been if the new section had always been there.

Thirdly, and most substantively, does the Minister propose using the power in proposed new section 21C(7)? The Opposition fully appreciate the need for proper information to be supplied in good time. HMRC can only take decisions on the basis of such information as it has. However, the Minister will understand that we are always cautious about people being asked to supply information in an unreasonable timeframe, especially if failure to do so costs them money, but saves money for the administrative authorities.

Finally, will the Minister reassure us that the power in proposed new section 21C(7) will not be used unreasonably in the light of the timeframe that citizens are given for responding to HMRC? What sort of timeframe does he expect HMRC to give for the supply of such information, and what timeframe would he regard as unreasonable? Will he give us an understanding of the minimum timeframe that might be given?