§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the rate at which a tax credit for pre-school children could have been introduced into the proposed working families tax credit if it were to be financed by not introducing the proposed childcare tax credit.[76100]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 11 March 1999]The cost of the childcare tax credit in the Working Families Tax Credit is estimated to be about £200 million in 2000– 01, the first full year of the tax credit. If the childcare tax credit within Working Families Tax Credit was not introduced and the money spent instead on an additional tax credit for children under 5, then, taking into account reductions in income related benefits, the credit could be set at about £5 a week on top of the rates announced by the Chancellor in the Budget.