§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be, today, the gross cost of increasing family allowances by 50p per week for each child for whom such allowances are currently received; what would be the net cost using the clawback procedure as adopted in 1968; and what were the comparable gross and net costs for each year since 1960.
§ Mr. DeanThe gross annual cost from 1960–61 and the gross and net annual costs from 1968–69 are in the following table. For the years before the introduction of clawback in 1968–69, the Board of Inland Revenue's data do not enable the net figures to be provided without undue expenditure of time and resources. If other social security benefits had been fully adjusted by reference to a 50p increase in the family allowances, the savings on those benefits since 1968–69 would have reduced the net cost shown below by about £24 million a year.
£ million Year Gross annual cost of 50p increase of family allowance Net annual cost 1960–61 150 — 1961–62 155 — 1962–63 155 — 1963–64 160 — 1964–65 165 — 1965–66 170 — 1966–67 170 — 1967–68 175 — 1968–69 180 55 1969–70 180 40 1970–71 180 30 1971–72 180 40 1972–73 180 30 1973–74 185 25