Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the effectiveness of the tax-free childcare offer.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HM Treasury and the Department for Education work closely together on all childcare policy, including Tax-Free Childcare. Take-up of Tax-Free Childcare is on a steady upward trajectory: at the end of June 2022 (the most recent data) an estimated 391,000 families used Tax-Free Childcare for 468,000 children.
Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data his Department holds on the take up of tax-free childcare in each of the last five years; and what steps he is taking to increase its take up.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The figures for open and used accounts for Tax-Free Childcare are published in Official Statistics. The latest release in November 2022 relates to figures up to September 2022 and are provided in the table below.
Number of: (1000s) | Financial Year | ||||
2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | |
Children with Open Accounts* | 314 | 537 | 768 | 901 | 1,093 |
Children with Used Accounts* | 72 | 203 | 396 | 462 | 647 |
Families with Open Accounts | 272 | 449 | 615 | 697 | 816 |
Families with Used Accounts | 57 | 160 | 315 | 374 | 512 |
* This refers to the number of children for whom accounts are open/used. A used account is one where a payment has been made to a childcare provider within the financial year. An open account is one where a family has met the eligibility criteria and may or may not have made a payment. This shows that in 2021-22 approximately 512,000 families used Tax-Free Childcare for 647,000 children
The Government is committed to supporting families with their childcare costs, including through Tax-Free Childcare (TFC). In July this year, we launched a £1.2 million communications campaign to help parents to access childcare support. This includes adverts through a variety of media channels, online, radio, television, newspaper and billboards. Additionally, we have worked with childcare providers at local levels to help parents better understand the support that is available to them.
Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) Worcester and (b) Worcestershire have taken up a Help to Buy ISA.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Help to Buy: ISA is an expansion to the existing Help to Buy scheme. The Help to Buy: ISA scheme will be launched on 1 December 2015.
The existing Help to Buy schemes are the Mortgage Guarantee scheme and Equity Loan scheme. Over 110,000 housing completions have taken place with the support of the Help to Buy scheme, as of June 2015.
The Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme has been running since October 2013. Figures are available only for completions to June 2015. There have been 110 completions in Worcester as of June 2015. Data for Worcestershire is not reported. The latest data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-june-2015.
The Help to Buy: equity loan scheme has been running since April 2013. In Worcester, there have been 183 completions with the support of the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme, as of June 2015. Data for Worcestershire is not reported. Official statistics on completions for the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme, monthly, broken down by local authority for England, are available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics
Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of removing free to use cash machines from the rating list on access to banking and money; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government has reduced the burden of business rates for all ratepayers, including free to use cash machines, in 2014-15 and 2015-16. However, the rating list does not distinguish free to use cash machines and no assessment has been made of removing them.
The availability of free cash machines across the country is at an all-time high, with 97% of all cash withdrawals made by UK cardholders in the UK charging no costs to customers.
Asked by: Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications of the Valuation Office Agency's decision to remove cash machines in post offices from the rating list on other retail businesses that host cash machines.
Answered by David Gauke
No such assessment has been made.
Decisions on when sites should be assessed for business rates are made independently of Ministers by the Valuation Office Agency and are considered on a case by case basis, taking account of the particular circumstances of each occupation, in line with rating legislation.
The government has reduced the burden of business rates for all ratepayers, including retailers, in 2014-15 and 2015-16. It has also increased the business rates retail discount for retail properties with a rateable value of £50,000 or below from £1000 to £1500 from April 2015.