Working Families Tax Credit
12th December 2001
3. Dr. Hywel Francis (Aberavon): How many households in Wales have benefited from the working families tax credit; and if he will make a statement.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Don Touhig): The Inland Revenue estimates that 76,000 families were receiving working families tax credit on 31 May 2001.
Dr. Francis: In my constituency, 1,300 families benefit from the tax credit. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is a vital part of the Government's anti-child-poverty agenda? Does he also agree that the work of the Children's Society in Wales is also part of that agenda?
Mr. Touhig: Indeed I do. The Government are committed to making work pay by improving incentives to help people move from benefit into work. I know that there was a debate in Westminster Hall about the Children's Society this morning, and I share some of the worries expressed by many Members about its decision to pull out of Wales.
It is important to recognise the value of schemes such as the working families tax credit in moving people from benefit into work. According to the labour force survey results published today, Wales has accounted for well over half the job growth in the United Kingdom in the last quarter, and 14,000 more people are in work now than in the last quarter. Working families tax credit and similar measures are turning out to be a very good story for the people of Wales.
