Responding to government figures released today revealing families in the South West owe £137 Million due to tax credit overpayments, Nick Harvey MP said that the administration of tax credits had been shambolic and called for an overhaul of the system.

Commenting Mr Harvey said:

“It is ludicrous that this system has been so badly administered that 167,000 families in the South West have been plunged in to debt as they now struggle to pay back thousands of pounds to the Government.

“This system has also managed to underpay 76,000 tax credit awards in the South West, this means that out of 541,000 awards made nearly half were inaccurate.

“In North Devon alone £3.2 Million in overpayments has been paid out.  While the government might be able to afford to play around with money; for hard working families every penny counts.

“The Minister has known of the systemic failures in the tax credit system for years and today’s figures are yet more evidence that too little has been done to rectify them. Recent modifications to the system are too little too late.

“These figures indicate all too clearly that a radical overhaul of the way tax credits are administered is needed before even more families are plunged in to poverty.”