§ Mr. GrieveTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the annual expenditure by Her Majesty's Government on(a) the Working Families Tax Credit and (b) the childcare tax credit has been in Scotland since 1997; [145669]
(2) if he will estimate the number of families with children in Scotland who are eligible for the Working Families Tax Credit; [145670]
128W(3) how many persons in Scotland are in receipt of (a) Working Families Tax Credit and (b) the childcare tax credit; [145671]
(4) what the (a) average Working Families Tax Credit and (b) average childcare tax credit payment per week was for persons in Scotland since 1997. [145668]
§ Dawn PrimaroloWorking Families' Tax Credit (WFTC) replaced Family Credit in October 1999. The data needed to estimate the answers to the first three questions are available as follows.
The WFTC Quarterly Enquiries from November 1999 contain estimates of the numbers of families in the United Kingdom and Scotland in receipt of awards, and the average weekly values of these awards. Copies have been placed in the Library. Estimates of national expenditure on WFTC and the Disabled Person's Tax Credit appear at Table B20 of the November 2000 pre-Budget Report.
It is estimated that at August 2000 12,900 families in Scotland were in receipt of WFTC awards which included a childcare tax credit, and that the average extra award to these families due to the childcare tax credit was £30.41 per week.
No estimate is available of the number of families in Scotland eligible for WFTC.