§ Mr. SimmondsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many parents have claimed Child Care Credit as part of the Working Families Tax Credit in each year since 1998; and how many are entitled to claim who have not done so. [161014]
§ Dawn PrimaroloWorking Families Tax Credit (WFTC) was introduced in October 1999. A time series of the number of families claiming the Child Care Tax Credit as part of WFTC is shown in Table 1.3 of "Working Families Tax Credit Statistics. Quarterly Enquiry. November 2002".
WFTC was replaced by working tax credit (WTC) at April 2003. The number of families benefiting from the child care element of WTC is shown in Table 4.4 of each issue of "Child and Working Tax Credits. Quarterly Statistics". The introduction of WTC has resulted in a large increase in the number of families benefiting from this help with their child care costs.
Overall take-up rates for WFTC for 2000–01 and 2001–02 are shown in "Working Families Tax Credit Estimates of Take-up rates". Separate estimates for families entitled to the child care tax credit are not available.
All the documents referred to appear on the Inland Revenue website, at www/inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm.