§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made for(a) small and medium enterprises and (b) larger companies of the number of man hours that a company will be required to spend to establish and administer the working families tax credit in (i) its first year and (ii) subsequent years; [76672]
(2) what estimate he has made of the (i) first year and (ii) subsequent year compliance costs for (a) small and medium enterprises and (b) larger companies of their role in administering the working families tax credit system. [76869]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 16 March 1999]: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the draft Regulatory Impact Assessment which was published on 3 February 1999.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the change from the Family Credit programme to the Working Families Tax Credit programme on the number of claimants in Portsmouth. [69935]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe Working Families Tax Credit, which will replace Family Credit on 5 October, will have a higher threshold and an increased taper. These improvements will result in an increase in take-up nationally.
The introduction of Working Families Tax Credit will ease the poverty trap by allowing people to keep more of what they earn as they increase their earnings, thereby increasing the incentive to move from welfare to work.