§ Ms KellyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what was the(a) total and (b) forecast level of expenditure on the Working Families Tax Credit; how many families have claimed the Working Families Tax Credit; and what estimate he has made of the projected number of claimants on a year by year basis; [122601]
(2) what is the (a) forecast cost of introducing the childcare tax credit and (b) number of projected claimants of the credit; [122613]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answers 18 May 2000]: The total expenditure on Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) and the Disabled Persons Tax Credit (DPTC) in 1999–2000, and the Budget projections of expenditure on these credits for 2000–01 and 2001–02, are shown at Table C 12 of the March 2000 Financial Statement and Budget Report. Most of this relates to WFTC. Up to the end of March 2000 there had been 1,030,200 awards made of the WFTC.
It is estimated that the extra expenditure in 2000–01 due to the childcare tax credit element of WFTC will be about £200 million, and that about 125,000 families will benefit. Projected figures for other years are not available.