§ Mr. Matherasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families will be worse off under the new child benefit scheme as a result of the proposed reduction in the child tax allowance; and what is the estimated total extra cost of running the scheme for these families.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 28th January 1977; Vol. 924, c. 802], gave the following information:
The great majority of families will gain 30p a week from April this year as the combined result of the introduction of tax-free child benefits for all children including the first child and the proposed reduc- 520W tion of child tax allowances. I am aware that there are some taxpayers for whom in particular circumstances the reduction of child tax allowance in 1977–78 may not always be matched by child benefit received. This is inevitable in the context of a major reform of the structure of family support and given the fact that rules of entitlement to child benefit necessarily differ in detail from those for child tax allowances. It is not possible to estimate the numbers involved but they are relatively small. It would not in any case be possible to isolate the cost of running the scheme for specific groups of families.