HC Deb 19 April 2000 vol 348 cc578-81W
Mr. Field

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 3 April 2000,Official Report, column 340W, if he will disaggregate the number of families claiming Family Credit and Working Families Tax Credit by (a) income deciles, (b) each £5,000 of household income and (c) families above and below half average household income. [118231]

Dawn Primarolo

[holding answer 7 April 2000]: For the analyses of families with the Working Families Tax Credit, I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer given on 12 April 2000, Official Report, column 160W. For Family Credit, the latest available estimates are for recipients in 1997–98. The distributions are given in the tables as percentages.

(a) Percentage distribution of families receiving Family Credit by quintile of net equivalised household income, 1997–98
Percentage
Before housing costs After housing costs
Bottom quintile 41 38
Second quintile 39 44
Third, fourth and top quintile 20 18

(b) Percentage distribution of families receiving Family Credit by £100 band of net equivalised household income, £ per week, 1997–98
Percentage
Before housing costs After housing costs
0 to £100 * 18
£100 to £200 63 68
£200 to £300 27 (12)
£300+ * *

(c) Percentage distribution of families receiving Family Credit above/below half average net equivalised household income, 1997–98
Percentage
Before housing costs After housing costs
Above half average income 61 50
Below half average income 39 50

Notes

  1. 1. The information comes from the "Household Below Average Income" (HBAI) data set for 1997–98, based on the Family Resources Survey, and relate to Great Britain.
  2. 2. The estimates are presented on household income both Before Housing Costs and After Housing Costs, in line with HBAI conventions.
  3. 3. All the estimates in the table relate to families in receipt of Family Credit, and are based on their incomes recorded in the survey, not at the time of claim. The are also based on incomes equivalised using the McClements scale. Equivalised incomes are equivalent to cash incomes for couples with no children. The results in table (b) are particularly sensitive to the choice of scale.
  4. 4. All the estimates are subject to sampling error. Groups have been aggregated due to small sample numbers. In particular, this has led to decile groups being aggregated to quintile groups in table (a). Results are not reliable for cells with small sample sizes: cells with sample sizes under 50 are marked with an asterisk (*). Results for cells based on samples of 50 to 100 benefit units are bracketed.

Mr. Field

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 3 April 2000,Official Report, column 340W, how many of those families claiming Working Families Tax Credit in each month since its introduction would have been entitled to family credit. [118232]

Dawn Primarolo

[holding answer 7 April 2000]: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer the Under-Secretary of State for Social Security, my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle), gave him on 3 April 2000, Official Report, column 340W.

Given the difference in income rules in relation to maintenance and the fact that it is not possible to isolate behavioural effects (such as the number of families who may have entered work or increased their hours because Working Families Tax Credit provides a more generous work incentive than Family Credit) it is not possible to determine whether individual Working Families Tax Credit recipients in each month would have been entitled to Family Credit.

Miss Geraldine Smith

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons it is necessary for claimants of working families tax credit who are paid monthly to provide more evidence of earnings than claimants who are paid weekly. [119739]

Dawn Primarolo

Working Families Tax Credit is based on a snapshot of a family's income immediately before the claim and is paid for a fixed period of 26 weeks. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the period over which normal earnings are considered is representative. For weekly-paid applicants, the set period is six weeks in the seven weeks immediately before the week in which the application is made. For monthly-paid people, the set period is the three months before the application. These periods should provide a representative picture in arriving at the applicant's normal earnings. Although monthly-paid staff are asked to provide evidence of pay over a three month period they need only provide three payslips whereas weekly-paid staff are required to provide six payslips.

Ms Buck

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families have been awarded working families tax credit in each local authority area in London. [119829]

Dawn Primarolo

Up to the end of March 2000, there had been 76,200 awards made of the Working Families' Tax Credit (WFTC) in the London Government Office Region. Available figures by local authority are given in the table.

Local authority Estimated number of WFTC awards made to end March 20001
Barking and Dagenham 2,100
Barnet 2,000
Bexley 1,400
Brent 3,100
Bromley 2,000
Camden 1,600
Croydon 4,000
Ealing 3,100
Enfield 2,900
Greenwich 2,800
Hackney 3,300
Hammersmith and Fulham 1,200
Haringey 2,500
Harrow 1,400
Havering 2,000
Hillingdon 2,100
Hounslow 2,600
Islington 1,800
Kensington and Chelsea 1,000
Kingston-upon-Thames 700
Lambeth 4,400
Lewisham 3,600
Merton 1,800
Newham 4,500
Redbridge 1,600
Richmond-upon-Thames 700

Local authority Estimated number of WFTC awards made to end March 20001
Southwark 3,300
Sutton 1,800
Tower Hamlets 4,100
Waltham Forest 2,800
Wandsworth 2,300
Westminster and City of London2 1,700
1 All figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. The estimates for constituencies in Great Britain are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are subject to sampling error. For example local authorities with 500 awards could be in the range 300 to 700.
2 A single estimate is given for Westminster and the City of London as there are too few sample cases in the latter for a reliable estimate to be made.