Finance

Pembrokeshire family’s child benefit stopped after Swiss holiday

Published

8 months ago

October 28, 2025

Parents told they had ‘moved abroad’ despite working and living in Wales

A PEMBROKESHIRE family say they have been forced to prove they still live in the UK after their child benefit was stopped — two years after taking a short family holiday to Switzerland.

The couple, who did not wish to be named, told The Herald they were shocked to receive a letter from HMRC claiming they were “living abroad” and that payments had been suspended.

“The stupid thing is they wrote to us at our UK address — where we’ve lived for seven years — telling us our benefit was stopped because we’d moved abroad,” the mother said. “Why send the letter to our home if they think we’ve left the country?”

She said she now faces demands for documents proving residency, despite working full-time for the NHS — “something I clearly can’t do from Switzerland.”

Thousands affected across the UK

The family’s experience mirrors dozens of similar cases reported across the UK after The Guardian revealed that thousands of families had child benefit wrongly stopped following holidays abroad.

In one case, a mother from Liverpool lost payments after taking her autistic children on a one-day trip to Amsterdam to help them cope with travel anxiety. In another, a father who works at Tesco was told to prove he hadn’t moved to Austria after a short city break.

The mistakes come from a new data-matching system introduced by HMRC as part of a government crackdown on benefit fraud. It flags people believed to have left the UK permanently — but in many cases has failed to register that they later returned.

HMRC confirmed that it had written to nearly 35,000 of the 6.9 million child benefit claimants across the UK, suspending payments for around 0.5% while checks are carried out.

HMRC apologises

An HMRC spokesperson said: “While this affects a very small number of claimants, we are very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly. They should respond to us as soon as possible so we can reinstate payments and ensure no one is left out of pocket.”

The department said it had “taken swift action to amend our approach, including checking employment data first before suspending payments.”

Child benefit can be stopped if a claimant is outside the UK for more than eight weeks, but families say the new system is wrongly punishing ordinary holidaymakers.

The Pembrokeshire mother said: “It’s ridiculous. I’ve lived, worked and paid taxes here for years. Now I’m having to prove I haven’t secretly moved to Switzerland because of a two-week holiday two years ago.”

Finance

Homebuyers in Wales set to benefit from major property market reforms

Published

5 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Tom Sinclair

New plans aim to cut delays, reduce costs and stop house sales collapsing

THOUSANDS of homebuyers across Wales could save time and money under a major overhaul of the property-buying process announced by the UK Government.

The reforms are designed to tackle long-standing problems in the housing market, including lengthy delays, failed transactions and unexpected costs which can leave buyers and sellers out of pocket.

Ministers say the changes could reduce the average time taken to buy a home by around four weeks and save first-time buyers an average of £650.

Under the proposals, sellers and estate agents would be required to provide key information about a property when it is listed for sale. New “sales packs” would include details about a home’s condition, leasehold charges and the status of any buying chain.

The Government also plans to introduce earlier legally binding agreements between buyers and sellers to reduce the number of transactions which collapse late in the process.

A major part of the reforms will focus on replacing paper-based systems with digital property logbooks, electronic signatures, online identity checks and AI-assisted conveyancing.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens said: “Thousands of people across Wales will benefit from these reforms which will make buying a home faster, simpler and fairer.

“For too long the system has been difficult and complex. This government’s changes will save working people and families valuable time and money when they are buying their new home.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the current system leaves many families “in limbo” and makes home ownership more difficult than it should be.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said buying or selling a home should not be “a drawn-out nightmare of delays, hidden costs, and failed deals.”

The Government says the reforms will be introduced in stages, with a new Code of Practice for property agents expected later this year.

From 2027, ministers plan to consult on mandatory qualifications for estate agents and the wider use of digital tools.

Legislation requiring sales packs, binding contracts and digital property information systems is expected before the end of the current Parliament.

Finance

£32.5m boost to help disabled people and those with health conditions into work

Published

1 week ago

June 11, 2026

Tom Sinclair

MORE than 9,000 people across South East Wales are to receive tailored employment support under a £32.5m expansion of the UK Government’s Connect to Work programme.

The funding will support around 9,100 disabled people, people with health conditions, and those facing complex barriers to employment, helping them move into work or closer to the labour market by 2030.

The Department for Work and Pensions said the programme replaces a “one-size-fits-all” approach with intensive, personalised help built around each individual.

Support will be delivered by specialist employment advisers, who will meet people in accessible community settings, including GP surgeries, cafés, parks and community hubs.

The help available will include matching people with suitable jobs, CV writing, interview preparation, direct work with local employers, and continued support once someone has started a role.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: “For too long, disabled people and those with health conditions in South East Wales and across the country were written off and denied the chance to work. This Government is changing that.

“Connect to Work is built on a simple belief: that with the right support, built around the individual, people can and do get into work.

“Today’s figures prove it. Thousands of people are now closer to working, earning and building better lives, and with South East Wales set to launch its support offer, this is just the beginning.”

The announcement comes as the first official statistics for Connect to Work show that 14,000 people across England and Wales have already received personalised support through the programme.

The DWP said 2.8 million people are currently out of work due to ill-health, and that Connect to Work forms part of a wider £3.5bn employment support package.

Councillor Peter Bradbury, Cardiff Council’s Cabinet Member for Employment and Inclusive Growth, said: “We are delighted that Connect to Work is being introduced across the South East Wales region; this is a significant opportunity to support our residents into sustainable employment while strengthening our local communities and economy.

“Delivery will commence shortly across the region, with further details, including start dates, available on the Cardiff Council website.”

The South East Wales funding follows earlier announcements for Connect to Work in South West Wales, Mid Wales and North Wales.

Finance

1.5 million taken to court over council tax debt, GMB investigation finds

Published

1 week ago

June 8, 2026

Tom Sinclair

AT LEAST 1.5 million people were taken to court over unpaid council tax last year, according to a new investigation by the GMB union.

The union said the figures showed a council tax system “completely broken”, with cash-strapped local authorities forced to pursue residents through the courts to recover unpaid bills.

The findings, released ahead of GMB’s annual congress in Blackpool on Tuesday (Jun 9), were based on Freedom of Information requests sent to all council tax-collecting local authorities in Britain.

Almost 200 councils replied within the statutory deadline.

The responses showed that 1,430,726 people were summoned to court in the financial year 2024/25. However, because many councils did not respond, GMB said the true figure was likely to be far higher.

The investigation also found that at least 4,593,838 council tax accounts were in arrears, while debt management proceedings had been launched against 3,231,480 accounts.

In total, at least £4.6bn is owed to councils in unpaid council tax.

In Wales, the figures showed £110,884,885 was owed, with 31,452 accounts in arrears, 14,792 facing debt management proceedings, and 34,437 people taken to court during 2024/25.

Broken system

Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said: “These horrifying figures show our council tax system is completely broken.

“Not only is the banding system woefully out of date, but forcing cash-strapped councils to pursue one and a half million people through the courts just to make ends meet can’t be the right way to do business.

“Austerity left deep scars on all our public services, which will last a generation or more.

“Meanwhile the lack of authority funding often means low pay for the people we rely on to look after our loved ones, to take our rubbish, to keep our towns and cities running.

“To fix all this, we need more guaranteed central government funding, progress on council tax reform so the richest pay their share, and changes to business rates so that authorities get more to regenerate our high streets.”

The highest regional total was recorded in Scotland, where £989m was owed and 245,294 people were taken to court.

London councils reported £625m owed, with 258,732 court summonses issued, while the West Midlands recorded 239,116 court cases and £490m in unpaid council tax.