SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan has strongly criticised HMRC at Westminster for the plight of many tax credit claimants in Derry following investigations by Concentrix.
Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on Concentrix, Mr Durkan (pictured) said: “I share other MPs’ frustrations about dealing with Concentrix in the constituency cases that come to us, but our frustration is nothing compared to the distress and desperation caused to many constituents.
“Let us be clear: we need to look closer to Parliament when asking some of our questions.
“The fact is that the contract was conceived by HMRC in a spirit of suspicion and hostility towards its customers.
“It said that it wanted to handle the high-risk renewal cases in this way, and it intimated to Concentrix that it was disappointed that Concentrix had screened out 80% of the cases referred to it as likely to be high risk and did not pursue them further.
“Perhaps that is one of the reasons why HMRC is taking the contract back. It perhaps feels that it could make a hotter and heavier pursuit than even Concentrix could.
“There was a significant spike in August, when even more calls to Concentrix were waiting and even more call queues could not be dealt with.
“That came from HMRC’s direct move to remove 45,000 people from tax credits. Some of those people were supposedly under investigation by Concentrix as high-risk renewals, but HMRC moved against them because of the annual declaration process. We have two separate processes going on, and the one thing in common is the victim: the claimant.
“Did Ministers know that HMRC was striking off people when they were going through the high-risk renewal claim?
“Another issue I want the Minister to address is the law. Concentrix insists that HMRC is saying that the 30-day cut-off on non-compliance is absolute and in statute. Do we need to change that law?
“HMRC must now look at the whole question of the so-called high-risk renewal scheme, which is at the very heart of all the troubles that our constituents have suffered.”
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby, replied: “There will be a number of reviews, and all lessons learned will be looked at in an open-minded manner.
“We will consider all elements of what has gone wrong and try to ensure that the mistakes, which have clearly happened, are not repeated.”
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