Background
Child Benefit is the largest individual benefit paid by HMRC. In 2024-25, HMRC paid £13.3 billion to over 6.9 million families. It estimated the overall level of fraud and error resulting in overpayments of Child Benefit at around 2% of associated expenditure.
In 2025, HMRC launched a new intervention to reduce fraud and error in Child Benefit, with the intention of saving £350 million over five years. It used Home Office flight data to try to identify cases where there was a risk that claimants may no longer be resident in the UK. In the initial rollout, HMRC suspended payments of Child Benefit immediately for identified cases, without prior notification.
As of January 2026, HMRC reported that it had reinstated payments for over 70% of initial cases. HMRC has now modified its intervention by reintroducing certain checks, reinstating customer payments where there was evidence of eligibility, and allowing additional time to engage with claimants. However, the issues arising in the initial rollout show the complexities and risks associated with trialling new methods of tackling fraud and error, which government must learn to manage.
Scope
This factual review will provide an independent assessment of HMRC’s Child Benefit anti-fraud-and-error intervention. We will:
- examine the strategy and governance, design, implementation, management and performance of the intervention
- highlight what HMRC has learned from this novel application that will support continued innovation and better management of the associated risks
The review will not look at individual claims.
NAO team
Director: Louise Bladen
Audit manager: Natalie Low