Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to increase the accessibility of childcare in Merseyside.

The government provides the following childcare support to parents and foster parents:

• 15 hours of free childcare a week for disadvantaged 2 year olds. This applies to all families in receipt of Universal Credit, with an annual net earned income equivalent to - or less than - £15,400. It also applies to families in receipt of benefits that currently entitle them to free school meals and those receiving working tax credits (with an annual gross household income of no more than £16,190). Equally, it applies to children entitled to certain benefits or support for a disability or special educational need and looked after children and certain children who have been in care, including those who have been adopted.

• 15 hours of free childcare a week for all 3 year olds and 4 year olds, worth around £2,500 a year on average.

• 30 hours of free childcare a week for working parents of 3 year olds and 4 year olds with working parents. 30 hours of free childcare is available to families where both parents are working (or where the sole parent is working in a lone parent family) and where each parent earns a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum wage or living wage. This also includes self-employed parents.

• Help with up to 70% of childcare costs for people on low incomes through working tax credits. In April 2016, this help increased to up to 85% through Universal Credit, subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1108 for 2 or more children.

• Tax-free childcare, for which 1.5 million families who have childcare costs will be eligible. For every £8 parents pay into an online account, the government will pay £2 – up to a maximum contribution of £2,000 per child each year, for children aged under 12. Parents of disabled children will receive extra support (worth up to £4,000 per child, each year and until their child is 17).

• Childcare vouchers provided through some employers, allowing parents to save money by paying for childcare from their pre-tax salary. This scheme is closed to new applicants from October 2018.

• Shared Parental Leave, giving parents the chance to share up to 50 weeks’ leave and up to 37 weeks’ parental pay in the first year following their child’s birth or adoption.

It is the responsibility of the local authority to ensure that every child that is eligible for the 15 hours and 30 hours of free childcare is able to access a place. Local authorities also have a statutory duty to provide parents with information, advice and guidance on their websites about how these childcare offers can be accessed locally.