UK taxpayers funding child benefit payment for 40,000 kids whose families have moved abroad

Taxpayers are funding child benefit payments to 40,000 children who live overseas, it emerged today.

Ministers admitted the payments – worth £20.30 a week for the first child and £13.40 for others – are paid to thousands of parents living in Europe at an estimated cost of £36million.

Brussels rules mean UK citizens are entitled to receive benefit payments even if they move to another European Union country.

At the end of last month there were 23,855 families living overseas claiming for a total of 40,251 children.

The majority of the claims were for families living in Poland, where 25,623 children receive child benefit.

In France 2,146 children get the benefit, 2,529 in Republic of Ireland, 1,953 in Slovenia, 1,291 in Spain, 1,710 in Lithuania and 1,109 in Latvia.

Tory MP Priti Patel, who uncovered the figures through parliamentary questions, said: “Hard-pressed taxpayers will be appalled to see their pockets being pillaged to pay out millions of pounds in child benefit payments for children living in other parts of Europe.

“This is deeply unfair and demonstrates yet again that some European immigrants are using crazy EU laws to get away with abusing our benefits system.

“The Government must get these loopholes closed to protect hard pressed families who are already paying far too much money subsidising the rest of the EU.”

Treasury minister David Gauke said European regulations “protect the social security rights of nationals of all member states of the European economic area and Switzerland, including the UK, when they exercise their rights of free movement under EU law.”

The figures come as George Osborne was warned his plans to cut child benefit for more than a million families are in “chaos”.

The Chancellor is withdrawing the payment from January 7 for families where one parent earns more than £50,000 a year.

Anyone earning more than £60,000 a year will lose the benefit completely.

But HM Revenue & Customs has yet to send out letters informing households of the change.