§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households are in receipt of housing benefit or working families tax credit; and what the estimated annual saving to the Exchequer in payment of housing benefit and WFTC would be from a 1 per cent. cut in the basic rate of tax. [26216]
§ Dawn PrimaroloIt is estimated that at May 2000 there were about five million recipients of housing benefit (HB) or working families tax credit (WFTC) in the United Kingdom.
It is estimated that, in a full year, a 1 per cent. cut in the basic rate of income tax lead to a direct reduction of about £40 million in expenditure on HB and WFTC.