§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost of making invalid care allowance non-taxable.
§ Mr. Ridley[pursuant to his reply, 5 July 1982, c. 5–6]: Payments of invalid care allowance during 1982–83 will total about £7 million. This figure excludes child dependency additions which are not liable to tax. Information is not available on which to base a precise estimate of the cost of exempting the allowance from income tax; but the cost in a full year at 1982–83 levels would probably be less than £1 million.