§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the amount by which child benefit could be increased on a revenue neutral basis if it was made taxable, the gross and net cost to the Exchequer if the amount of benefit paid in respect of each child was raised to (i) £15 and (ii) £20 weekly and made taxable, the estimated saving to public authorities of all kinds of reduction of other benefits and the estimated distribution of individual child benefits by range of total income of the parent/guardian and distinguishing between single persons, married couples without wife's earned income, married couples with wife's earned income, and institutions.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe information is in the table. The first line gives the level of child benefit on a revenue neutral basis if it were made taxable.
Level of child benefit Gross cost of increasing children benefit from £7.10 per week Yield from taxing child benefit £ per week £ million per year £ million per year 9.90 1,800 1,800 15.00 5,070 2,700 20.00 8,240 3,650 Estimated savings on other programmes following increases could be calculated only at disproportionate cost.
It is estimated that in a typical week in 1986, child benefit will be paid in respect of about 12,150,000 children. The following table shows the distribution of these children according to the size of their parents' or guardians' income. The figures are based on the 1983 and 1984 family expenditure surveys with the income data projected to forecast November 1986 levels, and are therefore provisional. Total income is all sources of income, earned and investment, and includes social security benefits at July 1986 levels on the assumption that families claim all the benefits to which they are entitled. Child benefit is taken into account at £7.10 per child per week.
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Estimated distribution of children qualifying for child benefit by parental status and range of parental income (November 1986) ('000s) Parental status Married couples Range of total income (£ per week) Single persons without wife's earnings with wife's earnings Total Less than 60 100 * * 100 60 to 80 210 60 10 280 80 to 100 420 300 90 810 100 to 120 260 430 180 870 120 to 140 160 350 210 720 140 to 160 80 390 300 770 160 to 180 50 270 330 650 180 to 200 50 300 530 880 200 to 250 70 660 1,350 2,080 250 to 300 30 480 1,160 1,670 300 to 350 20 320 840 1,180 350 to 400 10 180 570 760
Parental status Married couples Range of total income (£ per week) Single persons without wife's earnings with wife's earnings Total Over 400 10 390 980 1,380 Total 1,470 4,130 6,550 12,150 * Less than 10,000. The number of children in local authority care and institutions receiving child benefit is thought to be less than 10,000.