§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people have(a) applied for and (b) been granted the child care allowance; of those granted the allowance, how many were already in work and receiving family credit before they applied for or received the allowance how many (ii) applied for and received family and child care allowance on moving from unemployment into a job; and when he expects take-up of the child care allowance to reach 150,000 families. [14884]
§ Mr. Roger EvansIn the five-month period to 28 February 1995, the latest date for which information is available, there were 24,600 claims for help with child care charges. Of these, 12,900 families are now receiving higher family credit awards as a result of the new help. Of those families receiving the extra help, 8,800 families were previously receiving family credit and 4,100 are new recipients of the benefit. It will take some time before the new help takes full effect as existing family credit recipients can claim the child care help only when their current 26-week award expires, while many potential beneficiaries need to find work of 16 hours or more and to make appropriate child care arrangements. We therefore expect that it will be several years before the help reaches its full potential.
Source: Five per cent. sample of Family Credit awards made between 1 October 1994 and 28 February 1995. These figures do not include claims made by 28 February but decided after that date.