Ombudswoman calls for benefits to be returned to mother 

A decision of the Welfare Benefits Management Service (Ydep) to terminate the payment of child benefits and deduct an amount from the rent stipend of a divorced mother of a minor is without legal basis, a report by ombudswoman Maria Stylianou-Lottides said on Tuesday, after investigating a complaint submitted by the mother.

According to the report, benefits appear to have been withheld from the mother for a period of two months on the grounds that the child was not living with her as the father appears to have kept the child over the summer vacation period, which the mother refuted.

In her report, Lottides said that the interpretation of the law by Ydep was wrong, while it also refered to the fact that the service, even when and after the fact it was informed in writing by the Social Welfare Services, ignored the official information and to this day it seems that it has not paid the complainant the sums owed.

In this context, she urged that all rights attributable to the complainant for the child be retroactively paid.

At the same time, it is recommended that similar instructions be given, so that in the future, all the legal and factual elements and data of each case are weighed separately, so that the handling of a case does not end unfairly at the expense of the beneficiary.