§ Mr. SwinneyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of households which will lose entitlement to married couple's allowance in 2001–02 who will not become entitled to the children's tax credit; and what(a) the average loss per household will be in such cases and (b) the total saving will be for the Treasury from this group. [116577]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 28 March 2000]We are replacing the married couple's allowance with the children's tax credit, which is worth more than twice as much and is better targeted on the families who most need support—those with growing children. As a result of the measures we have taken, including the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit and record increases in Child Benefit, families with children will be on average £850 a year better off from April 2001. Estimates of the 633W total expected cost and yield of the abolition of MCA and the introduction of children's tax credit have been published in Table A2.1 of the FSBR.