HC Deb 27 March 2003 vol 402 cc446-7
10. Mrs. Anne Campbell (Cambridge)

How many people in the eastern region will benefit from the working tax credit. [105159]

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (John Healey)

Some 90,000 low-income families in the eastern region are expected to receive the new working tax credit and almost half a million in the region are expected to benefit from the new child tax credit. I am sure that my hon. Friend will recognise that no Government have given so much support to so many families as this Labour Government will from next month.

Mrs. Campbell

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. It is certainly good news that working people without children or a disability will be able to claim the new working tax credit for the first time. Will my hon. Friend tell me whether there are any estimates of the number of likely non-claimants among those who are eligible? Will he describe the strategy that he is adopting to ensure that there is a good take-up of the working tax credit?

John Healey

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In addition to the half a million people in the eastern region whom we expect to benefit from new tax credits, 6 million people will benefit throughout the UK as a whole. On take-up, I confirm that by the end of February, 3 million people had registered for the new tax credits, and a third of a million had done that online. The Inland Revenue is doing everything possible to ensure that those eligible get their claim in and benefit from the credit from day one.

Mr. Richard Bacon (South Norfolk)

Does the Economic Secretary agree with Sir John Bourn that tax credits are public expenditure, and if not, why not?

John Healey

We operate to conventional accounting rules and so the credits are not counted as public expenditure. We do not take the same view as Sir John Bourn.

Mr. Bob Blizzard (Waveney)

Many people in my constituency will welcome the new tax credits that are coming into force. For too long, so many people who were in work suffered due to low pay, and there were many people in my constituency for whom work would not pay and so they were caught in the benefits trap. I congratulate my hon. Friend on the new system that will bring more money to more people and iron out some anomalies in the previous system. Will he do even more to encourage take-up by producing more publicity?

John Healey

We are doing all that we can to encourage take-up, as I explained to my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Mrs. Campbell). Any family with children that has an income lower than £58,000 a year is eligible for some support under the new child tax credit. We are introducing the system because it allows us finally to align the tax credit system with the tax system itself, which will make claiming simpler. We want to keep work incentives while ensuring that most income is paid to the main carer, which is what we are doing.