Government Fails To Listen On Post Government's Tax Credit Record Disgraceful

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 24th May 2007

Commenting on the Labour Government's disgraceful tax credit record Paul Holmes, Liberal Democrat MP for Chesterfield, said:

"The government's record on tax credits here in Chesterfield is a disgrace. Gordon Brown has presided over a tax credits fiasco that is of his own making.

The government has overpaid residents of Chesterfield £2.6 million over the last three years, and across the country they have wrongly paid out over £9 billion.

At the same time the Labour Government have failed to pay over 1500 Chesterfield families the tax credit awards they were entitled to. This amounts to a massive underpayment of £800,000.

Not only have taxpayers in Chesterfield lost out, but the government is now trying to claw back money from people on very low incomes - even when it was government mistakes which led to the errors.

The government's shambolic tax credit system leads to uncertainty for many families in Chesterfield as they have no way of knowing what they will receive. I am campaigning for a simple system of fixed term awards of six months so that families know what they are getting and get what they are entitled to."