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Concentrix, the US firm accused of incorrectly withdrawing tax credits from hundreds of claimants, will not have its contract renewed, HMRC says.
The firm, employed by the government to cut tax credit fraud and overpayment, will, however, complete its current contract which expires in May 2017. In the eight months until then Concentrix will work on clearing outstanding cases, said HMRC. Concentrix said it had operated "within the guidance set by HMRC". "The HMRC statement not to renew the contract attacks our professional credibility, and the commitment of our staff who have performed determinedly, despite the issues with HMRC policies and procedures," said a spokesperson. Concentrix won a £75m contract to try to save the government more than £1bn in incorrect or fraudulent tax credit payments in May last year.
Wrongly accused
But in a statement on Tuesday, HMRC's chief executive Jon Thompson said: "While it's right that we ensure that tax credits customers only receive the money to which they're entitled, it is vital that those customers have a high level of service. "That's why we have decided not to extend our contract with Concentrix and HMRC is redeploying 150 staff so that customers can get through to advisers and resolve any issues about their claim.".....Read more here
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A whistleblower at Concentrix's call centre said most staff "weren't even trained" to deal with such calls. He said staff were not offered counselling, but were instead told: "Have a smoke... you'll be fine." But Concentrix said, in the case of suicidal callers, staff were trained in accordance with guidelines from HMRC. It told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "Our staff are supported as much as possible where we have encountered this type of scenario."
'No food'
Last week, US firm Concentrix - which is employed by HMRC to help reduce incorrect or fraudulent tax credit payments - learned it would not have its contract renewed once it expires in May 2017. This came on the same day as the Victoria Derbyshire programme reported claims that hundreds of people had wrongly had their payments stopped.............
Source: Read more Here
More than 500 civil servants have been deployed to help a private company sort out problems caused by 45,000 tax credit claimants having their benefits stopped.
Concentrix apologised for failures that have left some people with no benefits for up to two months. The US firm has been accused of incorrectly withdrawing tax credits from many hundreds of claimants. It was told in September that its HMRC contract would not be renewed.Officials from HM Revenue and Customs told a committee of MPs that a breakdown in customer services at Concentrix, had resulted in only 10% of calls being answered on some days. Thousands of people have had their tax credits stopped after Concentrix said they were making fraudulent claims - one woman was told she was in a relationship with a chain of newsagents, another with the philanthropist Joseph Rowntree, who died in 1925.Claimants, in what was sometimes an emotional testimony, told the committee they had been forced to borrow money and go to food banks as a result of the problems.........Read more here