§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have claimed tax relief for vocational training in each of the last four years; and what has been the cost to public funds in each year. [24823]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithVocational training tax relief (VTR) was abolished with effect from 31 August 2000. The number of claims received and the estimated cost of tax relief for the last four years of the relief are as follows:
Year Claims received1 Cost of tax relief2 (£ million) 2000–01 200,000 30 1999–2000 200,000 60 1998–99 170,000 50 1997–98 100,000 25 1 Number of claims received and not the number of trainees as an individual could make more than one claim in a tax year. It was estimated that there were probably about 200,000 people claiming VTR in 1997–98 and 1998–99 2 On an accrued basis