HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Brown hails new family tax cut – Putting Families first [February 2001]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 5 February 2001.
ALISTAIR DARLING OUTLINES NEW MEASURES FOR THE CHILD SUPPORT AGENCY
The Children’s Tax Credit – a family tax cut which will help 5 million families with children get up to £442 off tax bills – was launched today by Chancellor Gordon Brown, Social Security Secretary Alistair Darling and Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo.
A major £4.7 million national advertising campaign will encourage families to apply for the tax cut, helping them when they need it most – when children are growing up. A Helpline is available – 0845 300 1036 – for more information and help.
Gordon Brown said:
“All parents should have more support when they need it most – when children are growing up – and all, including absent parents, have a duty to fulfil their responsibilities. Our approach is firstly, to ensure the tax system acknowledges the costs of bringing up children – every family with children should have more support, improving family prosperity and reducing child poverty; second, we want to make it easier for parents to spend more time with their children by helping families balance work and home; and third, we want to ensure that all parents take seriously their responsibilities to their children, even where they are not living with them day-to-day.
Today, with the national advertising launch of the Children’s Tax Credit – our family tax cut – the tax system, which for years has ignored the very existence of children, is now recognising the very real costs of bringing up children. Building on the foundation of Child Benefit, paid to every one of 7 million mothers in the country, the new Children’s tax Credit is central to the new system of financial support for families.
The maximum amount of £442 a year is on top of Child Benefit – for a family on £30,000 a year, that’s the equivalent of nearly 2 pence off the basic rate of tax; for a family on average earnings of £25,000, it’s the equivalent of 2.5 pence; and for a family on £15,000, it’s equivalent to 5 pence off the basic rate. People should apply by the end of February to see the difference in their April pay packet.
But I want to do more to support families in the Budget, and to meet the needs of parents who wish to stay at home for longer after the birth of a child; getting people back into work with incentives such as WFTC and the 10p rate has been our priority, but now it is time to do more for mothers who want to stay at home, particularly in the first months and years of their young child’s life; I am confident that we will be able to take steps to improve arrangements for families facing additional costs and pressures where there are new born children.
Our approach, now and after the next Budget – rising Child Benefit for all, the family tax cut for millions, helping parents to balance work and family responsibilities, and ensuring all parents take responsibility for their children.”
Alistair Darling outlined the steps the Government has taken to ensure parents take responsibility for their children:
“Most parents are happy to meet their responsibilities, but a minority try to evade their duty, and by doing so deny children their right to a decent start in life. That is why our reform of child support is so important; over one million children will benefit when the new, simplified assessment system come into force at the CSA, getting more money, more quickly, to more children.
But we have to ensure those absent parents who evade their responsibilities do their best for their children. Our new powers, introduced this week, will ensure absent parents share in the care of their children. But in April, we will get tougher – courts will crack down on those who repeatedly avoid their responsibilities by removing driving licenses. A strong reminder that rights bring responsibilities, and a small price to pay to give children a better start in life.”
