THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES CAUGHT UP IN TAX MESS

His demand comes after new figures revealed that nearly 3,000 families in the Lewes constituency were still being forced to pay back around 2.5m of tax credits, due to overpayments made by HM Revenue and Customs.

Mr Baker said: 'It is simply unacceptable, that one year on, this amount of tax credits is still being overpaid to local families.

'As a local MP I regularly see not only the financial difficulties that this causes but also the worry and concern resulting from the unpredictability and irregularity of tax credit payments under the current shambolic system.

'It simply isn't right that it is the families needing the most help who are suffering unduly from the government's incompetence.

'Last May, the Paymaster General claimed that the system was working well for the vast majority of families but these figures show that that is not the case.

'What is more, the Minister has known about the systemic failures in the tax credit system for years and these figures provide yet more evidence that recent tweaks to the system are frankly too little too late.

'The government must stop blocking parliamentary scrutiny on this issue and bring in new ministerial leadership to introduce a radical overhaul of the way tax credits are administered.'