§ Mr. Tilleyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average tax paid by working single parents of a child or children aged under five years; and what would the cost to the Exchequer be if each of these families were allowed to set an average of £500 a year extra as expenses to be deducted from taxable income.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 3rd July 1978; Vol. 953, c. 58], gave the following answer:
I regret that precise information is not available but the cost would probably be of the order of £10 million.