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Written question asked by Steve Webb (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 4 February 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 February 2009. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Wednesday, 11 February 2009 on behalf of the Treasury.

Child Benefit

Question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of increasing child benefit for the first child by (a) £1, (b) £1.50, (c) £2, (d) £2.50, (e) £3, (f) £3.50 and (g) £4 per week above indexation in 2010-11 in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answer

The estimated annual cost of increasing the first child rate by the requested amounts are shown in the following table.

Estimated cost to the Department
£ million
Increasing child benefit for the first child by: 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
£1 390 390 410 420 430
£1.50 590 610 630 650 670
£2 780 810 820 850 880
£2.50 980 1,000 1,040 1,070 1,100
£3 1,180 1,200 1,240 1,290 1,340
£3.50 1,370 1,400 1,430 1,490 1,550
£4 1,570 1,590 1,650 1,700 1,750

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
487 c2100W; 255658
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Child benefit
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk