ONE of the privileges of being a constituency Member of Parliament is to meet a wide range of people at important times in their lives.

Over the past year I’ve had the pleasure of congratulating school pupils on their academic achievements, cutting the ribbon on new premises opened by local business while also celebrating the success of local charities who have secured funding.

But at the same time, one of the biggest professional challenges that all MPs face is to speak to people who are in distress or facing hardship through absolutely no fault of their own.

During the past few weeks my constituency team and I have been contacted by an increasing number of constituents whose lives have been turned upside down by the actions of Concentrix, who are contracted by HMRC to help administer the tax credits system. The National played a leading role in exposing these failures last week when it highlighted the issue.

But since then I’ve heard some even more distressing accounts about how the failures of this multi-national contractor is driving families into immediate poverty, with all the stress and pressure that comes with not being able to financially support your family.

These stories follow a similar theme. Often tax credit payments are stopped without warning, but those affected have not been able to get through to speak to the company on their advertised helpline.

Once they’ve eventually managed to make contact, often after spending hours holding on the phone at their own expense, victims are then confronted with Concentrix’s mistakes. For my constituents that meant false accusations that they are currently living with their neighbour’s ex-wife, their former partner or even a previous, unrelated resident at their home address. In other instances, one 19-year-old woman had her vital payments stopped when Concentrix falsely concluded that she was married to someone who had died some months ago at the age of seventy-four.

It would be farcical if it wasn’t having such a serious impact on the lives of families who are already struggling to make ends meet.

But rather than acting to rectify matters and repay these victims, Concentrix have been demanding that those affected by their own mistakes prove their innocence, and pay out their own pocket for the privilege. This often involves collating and submitting their tenancy agreements and a year’s worth of bank statements and utility bills by recorded delivery.

Victims should not have to dig deep to receive justice from a system that’s supposed to protect them.

Even then, once this proof has been received victims are now being told that there’s a six to eight week wait to have their claim restarted. That’s two months more without this vital financial support. Families are relying on charity to feed their children as a result of the bureaucratic incompetence of others, all as a result of the huge backlog of people having to submit this unnecessary evidence in the face of Concentrix’s own incompetence.

And what have Ministers done to address this crisis? Absolutely nothing. Not only have they failed to deal with letters from MPs as a matter of urgency – they have so far taken over a fortnight to reply to letters from me asking to intervene in urgent constituency cases where families are reliant on foodbanks – they are also refusing the opportunity to give media interviews on the subject to either defend their position or even set out what they’re doing to sort this out.

Could it be that Ministers don’t care about the impact on families with an already low level of income? What other explanation could there be?

The deal signed between the Government and Concentrix is also flawed. For example, under this agreement it’s Concentrix itself who then administer the appeals process, rather than an independent authority. This is another serious cause for concern.

The range of bizarre cases that have been recently uncovered certainly merit further examination.

It’s just not good enough for Ministers in the Treasury to look the other way.

Dealing with the financial and emotional suffering felt by vulnerable people through no fault of their own can sometimes be a difficult task for MPs and our staff, but it’s nowhere close to the misery that these families are having to contend with at the hands of this incompetent organisation and an uncaring Tory Government.

It’s our Government’s duty to support those in need, and Parliament’s duty to make sure they do.

That’s why I’ll leave no stone unturned in holding them to account.