Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in response to HMRC’s Permanent Secretary, Jon Thompson’s assurances that credit claimants will never again be made to deal with a private company following the Concentrix debacle, said:

“I am pleased to welcome yet another victory on behalf of tax credits claimants across the country following pressure from Labour yesterday. Our party continues to stand by the victims of this terrible fiasco, the majority of whom were single mothers.

“Let’s be very clear, these people did not deserve to face the hardship and stress they endured at the hands of Concentrix, in aggressive pursuit of profit, under the watch of a Tory Government who failed to ensure this contract was being managed correctly.  Many who suffered feel as if the Government is determined to make working people pay for their own failed austerity program.

“This is all too little too late. We need confirmation that those unfairly targeted by Concentrix will be properly compensated and that this will happen as soon as possible.

“In order to move forward and to genuinely ensure that that such a debacle never happens again, the Government needs to announce the timetable for a comprehensive investigation in to the increasing number of systematic failures that continue to be brought to light because I fear that Concentrix is just the tip of the iceberg.”