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Milk misery of tax father

From the Evening Press, first published Saturday 26th Apr 2003.

A YORK father claimed today that the tax credit chaos has left him so hard up that he had to ask a neighbour for milk powder to feed his baby.

Trevor Goddard is the latest in the number of angry people who have contacted the Evening Press to complain they had failed to receive new Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits.

York MP Hugh Bayley, who has also received a dozen complaints, said today that the difficulties were teething problems affecting only a minority of people, but with potentially very serious implications for them.

He said that his office had helped resolve a number of cases with a simple phone call, and those opting for a monthly payment would receive it by May 2. He said he advised people to contact their local Inland Revenue office if they could not get through to the tax credit helpline. In York, the office was at 23, Piccadilly and the phone number was 01904 526600.

The MP added that he had written to a government minister to explain the difficulties that his constituents had suffered, and ask that lessons be learned for the future.

Mr Goddard, a 44-year-old father-of-three of Branton Place, Chapelfields, said he had previously received £141 a week under the old Working Families Tax Credit.

But he had received nothing since it was replaced by the other credits earlier this month, and still did not know what he was going to get.

He had been unable to get through to an Inland Revenue helpline to find out what was going on.

"I have been trying to phone for three weeks, but every time I phoned they were either engaged or I went in a queue and got cut off. It's a shambles."

Mr Goddard said he and his wife, Denise, had three children - 13-month-old Alan, five-year-old Kate and seven-year-old Kelly.

"We are struggling. I have had to go next door to borrow some milk to feed the bairn because I couldn't afford to buy any. And the way it's going, I might have to ask again."

He said he was also being pressed by the council to pay his rent, but he had not got the money to do so. Now he was asking his councillor for the authority to defer the demand until the tax credit problems were resolved.

Updated: 10:30 Saturday, April 26, 2003

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