Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her Department's policy is on claiming back child benefit from parents who have lost a child in the year since the payment was made.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Entitlement to Child Benefit continues for eight weeks after the date of a child’s death. This recognises that the period following such a traumatic event is particularly difficult and avoids causing additional distress from the immediate removal of financial support. After this point, where a death of a child is not made known to HMRC, any overpayments of Child Benefit are ordinarily recoverable. However, HMRC has processes in place designed to limit overpayments in these circumstances. This includes using regular data from the registry of births marriages and deaths to sensitively contact customers where they have suffered the loss of a child. Similarly, where a customer informs DWP through their 'Tell Us Once Service', this information is passed to HMRC and used to end the Child Benefit claim.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the cost to her Department of not claiming back child benefit from parents who have lost a child in the year since the original payment.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The estimated cost of not claiming back Child Benefit payments from parents who have lost a child in the year since the payment was made is not readily available and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support and (b) help secure the early release of Marcus Fakana.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Supporting the welfare of British nationals detained overseas is a priority for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The FCDO cannot interfere in the judicial affairs of other countries, however where there are concerns that an individual's welfare needs are not being met, with their consent, we will raise this with the relevant authorities. We are unable to provide comment on the detail of individual consular cases in line with relevant UK data protection legislation: [https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-development-office/about/personal-information-charter].

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse would be to not claim back child benefit from parents who have lost a child in the year after the upfront payment.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the hon member to the answer given on 24 January to UIN 25010 regarding estimated costs of not claiming back Child Benefit overpayments.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her Department's policy is on claiming back child benefit from parents who have lost a child in the year after the upfront payment.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the hon member to the answer given on 23 January to UIN 25009 regarding the policy on Child Benefit overpayments.

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