Social Security Benefits: Personal Records

Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for how long information on individuals who are claimants of any benefits or tax credits is stored after they cease to be claimants; and what measures are taken to destroy these records.

Jane Kennedy
[holding answer 29 November 2007]: The child tax credit and working tax credit were introduced on 6 April 2003. HMRC currently hold records for tax credit claimants whether their claim has ceased or not, for making decisions on entitlement, administering payments; the recovery of overpayments and compliance purposes.

Records for Child Benefit claimants are deleted five years after the award of the youngest child in the family has ceased.