Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2018 to Question 132796, on Children: Day Care, if he will ensure that the Government makes available further opportunities for hon. Members to voice concerns on the planned closure of Childcare Vouchers to new applicants.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Colleagues were given the opportunity to voice their concerns about the closure of childcare vouchers to new entrants during the SI debate on the 13th March. To reflect concerns raised about the timing of the closure and the transition to Tax-Free Childcare, the government announced that childcare vouchers would remain open for a further six months.
It is for both Parliament and the Business Managers, in conjunction with the usual channels, to decide what future business is debated in the House.
Today the government has made the relevant day order which sets 4th October 2018 as the date when childcare vouchers and directly contracted childcare will close to new entrants. This will allow more time for Tax-Free Childcare to bed in, for awareness to increase and for families to understand the support they can receive under the scheme.
Now that Tax-Free Childcare is fully rolled out, the government will keep it under review to ensure it is delivering the support needed for working families.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Education of 13 March 2018, Official Report, Column 802, on Universal Credit, for what reason the change to the childcare vouchers salary sacrifice policy was not included in the Spring statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government confirmed that childcare vouchers will remain open for a further six months following a debate on childcare after Spring Statement, during which colleagues were given the opportunity to voice their concerns.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Secretary of State for Education's oral contribution of 13th March 2018, Official Report, column 802, what discussions he has had with employers on the potential confusion over eligibility for childcare vouchers in the middle of the tax year.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HM Revenue & Customs has published guidance on childcare vouchers which is regularly updated. The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/childcare-vouchers.
HMRC are working with employers and representative bodies so that they understand and can advise their employees about the extension of the childcare vouchers scheme.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Education of 13 March 2018, Official Report, Column 802, what steps his Department is taking to alert (a) employers and (b) employees to the extension of the childcare vouchers scheme.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HM Revenue & Customs has published guidance on childcare vouchers which is regularly updated. The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/childcare-vouchers.
HMRC are working with employers and representative bodies so that they understand and can advise their employees about the extension of the childcare vouchers scheme.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of 13 March 2018, Official Report, column 768, on what date he plans to provide further details of the roll out of childcare support in Northern Ireland similar to 30 hours of funded childcare in England.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Early education is a devolved matter for a restored Northern Ireland Executive. We have delivered a successful 30 hours policy for working parents in England, and will provide advice to the Northern Ireland parties based on our experience of developing and administering policies in England.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much compensation has been paid (a) in total, (b) on average for individual claims and (c) to what number of people for failings of the Childcare Service website.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The vast majority of parents have been able to apply for and use Tax-Free Childcare without difficulty. Where parents have missed out on Tax-Free Childcare payments HMRC will pay compensation to reimburse them.
As at 12 March 2018, HMRC has paid a total of £1,880,859 to parents in lieu of missed Tax-Free Childcare payments and the average payment was £280. HMRC also makes redress payments to recompense parents for inconvenience and expenses such as telephone calls to the helpline. At 12 March 2018 HMRC had paid a total of £96,751in redress to parents and the average payment was £62.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2018 to Question 129573 on Children: Day Care, whether the reason for closing an account is recorded.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HMRC does not currently record the reason why a childcare account is closed.
12,188 families opened Tax-Free Childcare accounts in February 2018.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax-free childcare accounts were opened in February 2018.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HMRC does not currently record the reason why a childcare account is closed.
12,188 families opened Tax-Free Childcare accounts in February 2018.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of the staff employed by his Department are apprentices.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There are currently 18 apprentices working at HM Treasury, which represents 1.3% of the total paid staff headcount
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Atos or any other contractor has been found to be have failed on any part of the contract related to providing the website services which generate eligibility codes for (a) tax-free childcare and (b) 30 hours of funded childcare.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
It is not the Government’s usual practice to comment on contractual matters between departments and their contactors since they may be commercially sensitive.