Income Tax Thresholds (Hansard, 10 February 1997)

§ The Minister of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish)

The estimated full year cost at 1997–98 income levels of allowing married couples with two or more children age 11 to 16 to have one personal allowance of £200 a week is £0.6 billion. An allowance of £401.40 per week, which is the estimated average full time male earnings in manufacturing industry in 1997–98, is estimated to cost £1.9 billion.

These estimates have been calculated on the basis that the personal allowance is given to the husband in the first instance and the wife gets no allowance. However, if the husband is unable to use all of his allowance then he is able to transfer the unused allowance to his wife. The married couple will still be able to claim the married couple's allowance.

It is not possible to identify teenage children, because the exact age of the child is not known; instead children are grouped according to a range of ages 0–4, 5–10 and 11–16.

Schemes Withdrawn from the 1996 Programme
Route	Scheme	Cost £ million*	Stage Reached	Expenditure to end December 1996 £ million
	Western Orbital Route, Hereford & Worcester, Staffordshire	615.0	PRA
M1	J28–31 Widening, Derbyshire, Rotherham MB	233.0	PE	0.9
M1	J25–28 Imp (Phase 2: Widening), Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire	195.7	PC	1.2
M1	J21A–23A Widening (Phase 2), Leicestershire	84.5	PE	1.6
M1	J21–21A Widening (Phase 2), Leicestershire	85.1	PE	0.5
M1	J19–21 Widening, Leicestershire	155.9	PE	2.4
M1	J14–19 Widening, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire	299.5	PE	8.3
M3	J2–3 Widening, Surrey	71.6	PC	1.9
M3	J3–4 Widening, Surrey	48.4	PC	Included in M3 J2–3
M4	J8/9–10 Widening, Berkshire	52.0	PC	8.7
M4	J10–12 Widening, Berkshire	161.1	PE	Included in M4 J8/9–10
M4	J12–15 Widening, Berkshire, Wiltshire	290.1	PE	2.0
M4	J18–20 Widening & M5 J15–J17 Widening, Avon	54.8	PE	1.1
M5	J29–30 Imp, Devon	29.5	PE	<0.1
M5	J1 & 2 Imp, Sandwell MB +	7.8	PE	<0.1