HC Deb 13 July 2000 vol 353 cc640-1W
Jean Corston

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was, or is expected to be, the real terms cost at 1999–2000 prices of(a) Child Benefit, (b) One Parent Benefit and, following Table 2 in the DSS report and Expenditure Plans, the element for Lone Parents, included for Child Benefit from April 1997, (c) Family Credit and Working Families Tax Credit, (d) Children's Tax Credit and (e) the estimated cost included in Income Support for children, and, applying the Government Actuary's assumptions of both 1½ per cent. and 2 per cent. earnings growth, each of the above as a percentage of gross domestic product in each of the years 1994–95 to 2001–02. [130059]

Angela Eagle

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.

Expenditure as a percentage of GDP
Percentage
1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98
Child Benefit 0.89 0.87 0.86 0.87
Lone Parent addition within Child Benefit 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04
One Parent Benefit 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.00
Family Credit 0.21 0.24 0.27 0.28
Working Families Tax Credit1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Children's Tax Credit2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Estimated Income Support expenditure on children3 0.29 0.29 0.28 0.26

1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02
Child Benefit 0.85 0.91 0.90 0.89
Lone Parent addition within Child Benefit 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.01
One Parent Benefit 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Family Credit 0.28 0.22 0.00 0.00
Working Families Tax Credit1 0.00 0.10 0.52 0.55
Children's Tax Credit2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.17
Estimated Income Support expenditure on children3 0.25 0.26 0.31 0.33
1Includes Disabled Persons Tax Credit as per table C12 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report March 2000.
2As per tables A 13 and A 2.1 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report March 2000.
3Children are dependants under 18 years of age. The increase in 2000–01 and later years is a reflection of the £4.35 per week increase in child personal allowance from October 2000 and the fact that from April 2000 the allowance for a child under 11 has been equalised with that for an 11–16 year old child.

Notes:

  1. 1. Expenditure is consistent with the Departmental Report 2000.
  2. 2. Real terms expenditure is calculated using revised GDP deflators issued 29 June 2000.
  3. 3. The relationship between earnings and benefit expenditure is complex and the information requested is not readily available.

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