§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claimants of family credit there were in South Shields constituency in 1997; what the average benefit for a(a) full-time and (b) part-time worker was; how many claimants of Working Families Tax Credit there are; and what the average benefit is for a (i) full-time and (ii) part-time worker. [154441]
§ Dawn PrimaroloAt May 1997 there were an estimated 1,200 families receiving Family Credit in the South Shields constituency.
For the other parts of his question I refer my right hon. Friend to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins) on 13 March 2001, Official Report, column 552W. There are too few cases in the 5 per cent. sample used for the analyses of these awards to yield reliable separate estimates of average awards for South Shields; and for the same reason care should be taken when making comparisons over time in estimates of the number of awards.