§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of restoring residual child tax allowances at levels equal in value to the difference between child benefit at £4 and the supplementary benefit scale rates for children of different ages.
§ Mr. Peter Rees,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 21 May 1979; Vol. 967, c. 44–5], gave the following answer:
If child tax allowances were reintroduced or values designed to give a basic rate taxpayer an increase in net income equal to the difference between the supplementary benefit scale rate for each child and the £4 a week level of child benefit, the cost would be about £1,350 million at 1978–79 income levels.