To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of tax credit claimants are entitled to the family element of child tax credit only. (264582)

Estimates of the number of families with tax credit awards, including those entitled to the family element of child tax credit only are published in table 2.1 of our provisional awards snapshot publication, “Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics, December 2008”. The publication is available on the HMRC website at:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-dec08.pdf

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of people claiming child tax credit were under the age of 18 years in each year since its introduction; and how many and what proportion of this group claimed the lone parent element of child tax credit in each of those years. (264659)

The information requested is available only at a disproportionate cost.

However, estimates of the number of families in receipt of tax credit, including information on lone-parent families by age bands, are published in table 3.1 of the HMRC snapshot publications, “Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics” as at 4 December of each year. The publications are available on the HMRC website at:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm