To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) of 10 February 2003, Official Report, column 604W, how much each mailshot to potential new tax credit claimants has cost. [100764]
The answer I gave to the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) referred to a reminder mailing in November and a further mailing in February. The approximate costs for these mailings are as follows:
| £ | ||
| Date | Print and production | Postage |
| November | 299,000 | 588,000 |
| February | 70,000 | 364,000 |
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) Northampton, South will be entitled to the new Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit; and of these, how many (i) have applied for them and (ii) have returned their claim form. [100788]
Six million families in the United Kingdom are expected to benefit from the new tax credits in 2003–04, including 1.3 million families with children who receive Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance and who will receive the additional support through those benefits until they move into the Child Tax Credit itself in 2004. By the end of February we had already received over three million claims. Numbers for Northampton South are not available.