HC Deb 11 November 1999 vol 337 cc765-6W
20. Mrs. Ellman

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the contribution Working Families Tax Credit is making to the alleviation of poverty in Liverpool, Riverside. [97009]

Mr. Timms

The Working Families Tax Credit tackles poverty by boosting the incomes of 1.5 million working families including the constituents of my hon. Friend, who will receive on average £24 a week more than they would have with Family Credit. The Working Families Tax Credit makes work pay and will increase employment opportunities.

31. Mr. Gareth Thomas

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many inquiries have been received by the Working Families Tax Credit response line from Wales. [97020]

Dawn Primarolo

Up to midnight on 2 November, there were just under 24,000 calls to the Working Families Tax Credit response line from callers with a Welsh post code.

32. Caroline Flint

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact the working families tax credit will have in increasing the financial incentives for women to work. [97021]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The Working Families Tax Credit makes work pay and will improve incentives for all working families. The childcare tax credit which provides up to £105 per week towards childcare costs, will be of particular help to women who want to work.

36. Mr. Goggins

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of children in Wythenshawe and Sale, East who will be removed from poverty as result of the Working Families Tax Credit. [97025]

Dawn Primarolo

The measures announced by the Chancellor in his last budget, including WFTC, will together lift one and a quarter million people out of poverty—800,000 of them children. There is, however, no estimate available for Wythenshawe and Sale, East.

Caroline Flint

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he will take to ensure that recipients of working families tax credit are able to make provision for a retirement pension. [98030]

Dawn Primarolo

[holding answer 10 November 1999]: Most recipients of working families tax credit pay national insurance contributions towards entitlement for retirement pension. For those who do not, pension entitlement is safeguarded by the automatic award of national insurance credits for each week of receipt of working families tax credit.

Caroline Flint

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many calls have been received by the Working Families Tax Credit Hotline since its inception(a) nationally and (b) in the Yorkshire and the Humberside Region. [98031]

Dawn Primarolo

[holding answer 10 November 1999]: Up to midnight last night, the telephone response line had handled just over 700,000 calls nationally. In the Tyne & Yorkshire TV region the response line had handled just over 80,000 calls.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many new claims for Working Families Tax Credit were granted during October; how many new claims there were for family credit in each of the previous 12 months; and how many six-monthly renewals of entitlement have occurred in each of the previous 13 months; [98292]

(2) how many calls about Working Families Tax Credit have been received at the Inquiry Line; and how many have led to a claim being granted. [98295]

Dawn Primarolo

I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Ms Julie Morgan

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many phone calls have been made to the freephone number for information about the Working Families Tax Credit(a) in total and (b) from Wales. [98405]

Dawn Primarolo

Up to midnight last night, the telephone response line had handled just over 700,000 calls nationally. We estimate that there were around 27,000 calls from callers with a Welsh post code.