HC Deb 10 March 2000 vol 345 cc852-4W
Ms Buck

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what has been the average value of the child care component of the Working Families Tax Credit for(a) England and (b) each region; [110546]

(2) if he will estimate what percentage of average actual child care costs are met by the child care component of the Working Families Tax Credit in (a) England and (b) each region. [110547]

Dawn Primarolo

Estimates for the average childcare tax credit and the percentage of child care costs that this represents within awards of the Working Families Tax Credit made by the end of January 2000 are given in the table. The national average childcare tax credit at £31 is 40 per cent. higher than the average amount of extra Family Credit awarded for child care charges at the end of August 1999 at £22.

Government Office Region Average childcare tax credit 1 (£) Percentage of actual child care costs
United Kingdom 31 66
England 32 66
North East 32 67
North West 29 65
Yorkshire and the Humber 30 66
East Midlands 32 66
West Midlands 30 66
East of England 32 66
London 39 64
South East 32 65
South West 29 66
Wales 29 67
Scotland 28 68
Northern Ireland 35 66
1 Calculated as the extra amount of Working Families Tax Credit arising from the Childcare Tax Credit for families with eligible child care costs

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent to date on the Childcare Tax Credit of the Working Families Tax Credit; and what is his latest estimate of expenditure in(a) this financial year and (b) in each of the next two financial years. [108761]

Dawn Primarolo

The extra amounts of Working Families Tax Credit arising from the Childcare Tax Credit in awards made by the end of January 2000 will result in expenditure of about £85 million during the 26 week period of award. It is estimated that for 2000–01, the first full year of the credit, the extra expenditure due to the Childcare Tax Credits will be about £275 million. An estimate for 2001–02 is not available.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many parents are claiming the Childcare Tax Credit in respect of children(a) aged under eight years and (b) over eight years; and what is the average payment per (i) family and (ii) child. [108760]

Dawn Primarolo

The ages of children relating to the Childcare Tax Credits in the Working Families Tax Credit are not readily available. An analysis based on the ages of all children in families receiving the Childcare Tax Credit is given in the table. These figures are for awards of the Working Families Tax Credit made by the end of January 2000.

Family composition Number of families with Childcare Tax Credit
All children aged under 8 47,500
All children aged 8 or over 9,500
At least one child under 8 and at least one child aged 8 or over 17,000
Total 74,000

Families in receipt of the Childcare Tax Credit received on average an extra £44.50 per week as a result of this credit, or £32.20 per week per child.

Judy Mallaber

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many families in Amber Valley are(a) eligible to claim and (b) are claiming ChildCare Tax Credit; and how many children are the subject of such claims; [109044]

(2) what estimate he has made of the average amount by which the incomes of families in receipt of Working Families Tax Credit in Amber Valley have changed as a result of being in receipt of that tax credit; [109043]

(3) how many families in Amber Valley are receiving Working Families Tax Credit who were not previously eligible for Family Credit; [109042]

(4) how many families in Amber Valley have benefited from the Working Families Tax Credit. [109041]

Dawn Primarolo

It is estimated that 1,200 families in Amber Valley have been awarded the Working Families Tax Credit by the end of January 2000, receiving on average around £23 a week more than they would on Family Credit. A more detailed breakdown of these awards is not available because of the small size.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is his latest estimate of the take-up of the Childcare Tax Credit of the Working Families Tax Credit; [108752]

(2) how many families have so far received the Childcare Tax Credit of the Working Families Tax Credit; and how many he estimates will receive in (a) the course of this financial year and (b) in each of the next two financial years. [108763]

Dawn Primarolo

Within awards of the Working Families Tax Credit made by the end of January 2000 there were about 74,000 families in receipt of the Childcare Tax Credit. It is estimated that this figure will rise to about 125,000 for 2000–01, the first full year of the credit. An estimate for 2001–02 is not available.

Ms Buck

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the actual full-time equivalent child care costs of recipients of the child care tax credit are being met on average through the credit in(a) England and Wales and (b) each region. [111271]

Dawn Primarolo

Estimates given are for couples who both work at least 30 hours a week and lone parents working at least 30 hours a week. These represent the average childcare tax credit within awards of the Working Families Tax Credit made by the end of January 2000, expressed as a percentage of child care costs.

Government Office Region Average childcare tax credit 1 as percentage of actual child care costs
United Kingdom 64
England and Wales 64
North East 65
North West 65
Yorkshire and the Humber 65
East Midlands 65
West Midlands 66
East of England 66
London 62
South East 62
South West 63
Wales 67
Scotland 66
Northern Ireland 65
1Calculated as the extra amount of Working Families Tax Credit arising from the Childcare Tax Credit for families with eligible child care costs.