FROM next month (October) many families in Blackpool will qualify for extra help through the Government's new Working Families Tax Credit.

The WFTC will replace Family Credit and is designed to give a better deal for working families with children.

It is a key part of the Government's strategy to make work pay and reduce child poverty.

For the first time, the WFTC will guarantee take-home pay of at least £200 a week or more than £10,000 per year for any family with a full-time worker. No family with earnings of less than £235 a week will pay income tax.

A family earning £13,000 will be up to £50 a week or £2,500 a year better off, and the WFTC will provide an average of £67 per week to 1.5 million families - an extra £24 per week on top of Family Credit. The WFTC also includes help towards the cost of child care.

This is worth up to an extra £70 a week for families with one child and £105 a week for families with two or more children who pay eligible child care costs.

A national advertising campaign is under way to inform people about the WFTC.

I urge anyone in Blackpool who thinks they will be eligible to call 0800 5975976 to find out more. Gordon Marsden MP,

House of Commons.

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