Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127416, whether his Department has plans to collect data on the number of parents who (a) plan to stop and (b) have stopped using childcare vouchers in order to use tax-free childcare.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government announced the closure of the childcare voucher scheme to new entrants at Budget 2016. Therefore, parents of 12 to 15 year olds have either decided not to join the voucher scheme or are unable to join the scheme because they are self-employed or their employer does not offer vouchers. Parents who meet the eligibility requirements will not necessarily have an employer who offers them.
Information on the cost of childcare, by child age, is published by the Department for Education in table 4.7 of the additional tables document of the childcare and early years survey of parents, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2017
The median childcare cost used in the table is the more accurate for comparing childcare costs as it is less affected by statistical outliers than the mean.
The estimate of eligible families for Tax-Free Childcare was derived using Family Resource Survey which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-resources-survey--2. It is not possible break this down by local authority.
Tax-Free Childcare has a wider reach than childcare vouchers. Unlike vouchers which are reliant on whether an employer chooses to offer them, all eligible parents are able to access the Tax-Free Childcare, including the self-employed. Only an estimated 5% of employers offer childcare vouchers.
Data on how many parents intend to, or have stopped using childcare vouchers in order to use Tax-Free childcare is not available.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2018 to Question 124451, what the evidential basis is for the Government’s estimate that 1.5 million families with childcare costs will be eligible for tax-free childcare; and for what reasons that estimated number differs from the number of families currently in receipt of childcare vouchers.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government announced the closure of the childcare voucher scheme to new entrants at Budget 2016. Therefore, parents of 12 to 15 year olds have either decided not to join the voucher scheme or are unable to join the scheme because they are self-employed or their employer does not offer vouchers. Parents who meet the eligibility requirements will not necessarily have an employer who offers them.
Information on the cost of childcare, by child age, is published by the Department for Education in table 4.7 of the additional tables document of the childcare and early years survey of parents, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2017
The median childcare cost used in the table is the more accurate for comparing childcare costs as it is less affected by statistical outliers than the mean.
The estimate of eligible families for Tax-Free Childcare was derived using Family Resource Survey which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-resources-survey--2. It is not possible break this down by local authority.
Tax-Free Childcare has a wider reach than childcare vouchers. Unlike vouchers which are reliant on whether an employer chooses to offer them, all eligible parents are able to access the Tax-Free Childcare, including the self-employed. Only an estimated 5% of employers offer childcare vouchers.
Data on how many parents intend to, or have stopped using childcare vouchers in order to use Tax-Free childcare is not available.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on families with children between the age of 12 and 15 who (a) do not claim childcare vouchers before the closure of the scheme but would meet the scheme's eligibility requirements after its closure, and (b) cannot claim for tax-free childcare because of the age of their child.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government announced the closure of the childcare voucher scheme to new entrants at Budget 2016. Therefore, parents of 12 to 15 year olds have either decided not to join the voucher scheme or are unable to join the scheme because they are self-employed or their employer does not offer vouchers. Parents who meet the eligibility requirements will not necessarily have an employer who offers them.
Information on the cost of childcare, by child age, is published by the Department for Education in table 4.7 of the additional tables document of the childcare and early years survey of parents, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2017
The median childcare cost used in the table is the more accurate for comparing childcare costs as it is less affected by statistical outliers than the mean.
The estimate of eligible families for Tax-Free Childcare was derived using Family Resource Survey which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-resources-survey--2. It is not possible break this down by local authority.
Tax-Free Childcare has a wider reach than childcare vouchers. Unlike vouchers which are reliant on whether an employer chooses to offer them, all eligible parents are able to access the Tax-Free Childcare, including the self-employed. Only an estimated 5% of employers offer childcare vouchers.
Data on how many parents intend to, or have stopped using childcare vouchers in order to use Tax-Free childcare is not available.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to encourage people from low-income households to save towards their pensions.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Automatic enrolment has been a success with 9.4 million workers enrolled into workplace pensions since 2012.
Figures from DWP show that the largest increase in participation has been among eligible low earners, with 63% of these workers in the private sector earning between £10,000 and £19,999 now saving into a workplace pension – an increase of 43 percentage points from 2012. Workplace pension participation among eligible men and women has equalised.
We want to build on the increase in participation. The minimum contributions required under automatic enrolment will increase from the current 2% of qualifying earnings to 5% in April 2018 and 8% in April 2019. This will help to boost pension savings. DWP’s 2017 review of automatic enrolment set out the Government’s ambitions for future reforms to expand the policy.
We recognise the importance of financial resilience and have therefore been working to provide low-income households with products that make it easier for them to build savings outside of a pension as well, such as Help to Save and the Lifetime ISA.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 126732, what the evidential basis is for HMRC’s estimation that less than one per cent of families eligible to receive tax-free childcare will not be able to use online services or access the internet.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The estimate of those able to use online services or access the internet is based on research of the target market. HMRC commissioned research to understand parent’s digital capability and confidence to manage an online childcare account.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies in (a) the North East and (b) the UK are paying less than the minimum wage for apprenticeship programmes.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) review all complaints that are referred to them.
In 2016-17 HMRC closed 78 NMW investigations where NMW arrears were identified and that were recorded in relation to apprentices. The 75 male and 158 female workers affected would have been a mix of apprentices and regular workers. HMRC are unable to provide a separate breakdown on how many of these workers were apprentices, or to provide in year enforcement data for 2017-18.
HMRC does not record statistics on complaints or investigations by reference to countries of the United Kingdom, Government regions, constituencies or counties.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) male and (b) female apprentices were paid less than the minimum wage in (i) the North East and (ii) the UK in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) review all complaints that are referred to them.
In 2016-17 HMRC closed 78 NMW investigations where NMW arrears were identified and that were recorded in relation to apprentices. The 75 male and 158 female workers affected would have been a mix of apprentices and regular workers. HMRC are unable to provide a separate breakdown on how many of these workers were apprentices, or to provide in year enforcement data for 2017-18.
HMRC does not record statistics on complaints or investigations by reference to countries of the United Kingdom, Government regions, constituencies or counties.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of regulating the use of cryptocurrencies in the UK.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As with all policies, the Government keeps its policy towards cryptocurrencies under review. The Government believes any regulation should be proportionate and risk-based.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2018 to Question 128525 on Children: Day Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of childcare support to those that do not have access to the internet.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HMRC and DfE are delivering a communications and engagement programme. This campaign caters both for parents with and without access to the internet. Parents without internet access will be able to obtain information from their employers, childcare providers, industry stakeholders, parent groups and local authorities who HMRC has provided with information and downloadable leaflets.
HMRC and DfE are also working with the Family Information Service, Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG), Citizens Advice Bureaux and Job Centre Plus to raise awareness of the childcare support available to families.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2018 to Question 129428, what assessment he has made of the recent trends in (a) unemployment overall and (b) the number of unemployed women recorded in the figures from the Office for National Statistics published in February 2018.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The ONS estimates of short term changes to unemployment are subject to some uncertainty. As such it is more meaningful to look at longer term trends.
Since 2010 total unemployment has fallen by one million, and unemployment for women has fallen by 0.3 million. Alongside this, female employment has risen by around 1.5 million to a joint record of 15.1 million, and total employment has increased by 3 million.