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 27 April 2018 to Question 137634, on 137634, what was the total amount his Department planned to spend on support costs for policies related to childcare and early education in the financial year 2017-18.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Childcare Service is an integrated digital service through which parents can apply for Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare in a single application. As the costs of one application can be associated with both policies, there is not a clear distinction between the operating costs of each. In 2017-18, HMRC met just under £29 million of the total costs, and DfE £8 million.
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 27 April 2018 to Question 137634, on Children: Day Care, whether support costs will be included as part of the £6bn spend on childcare in 2020.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
By 2019-20 we will be spending a record £6 billion on childcare support. The IT and call centre costs referred to in my answer to question 137634 are not included within this figure.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of all departmental budgets to ensure that they (a) include a sum for investment in tackling children's social and economic inequalities and (b) enable policy collaboration between Departments on social and economic inequalities.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
To tackle the inequalities that children face, in 2018-19 we’re giving schools £5.5 billion to support disadvantaged children. Over half a million of the country’s most disadvantaged 2 year olds have received free early education since the offer was introduced in 2014. And thanks to the government’s strong record on employment, since 2010, 598,000 fewer children are now living in workless households.
The Government sets budgets through the Spending Review process, where we assess all departmental budgets and spending priorities in the round. At annual fiscal events the Government can make adjustments to these plans. In the last budget, this government was more transparent than any other: publishing detailed analysis of the impact of policy decisions on households of different incomes.
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 23 April 2018 to Question 135820, on Children: Day Care, how much was spent each month on (a) call centre support and (b) IT support for (i) tax-free childcare and (ii) 30 hours of free childcare.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
For question 137635, I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to the Honourable Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North on 1 March 2018 (129635).
The table below provides the breakdown of the costs for administering the childcare service each month by call centre and IT support cost. This includes the costs of supporting both Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare.
Month | Call Centre Costs[1] (£) | IT Support Costs (£) | Total Costs (£) |
April 17 | 936,275 | 1,001,488 | 1,937,763 |
May 17 | 1,158,196 | 1,136,145 | 2,294,341 |
June 17 | 1,333,135 | 1,136,145 | 2,469,280 |
July 17 | 1,572,458 | 1,252,344 | 2,824,802 |
August 17 | 1,955,659 | 1,336,145 | 3,291,804 |
September 17 | 2,362,997 | 1,459,861 | 3,822,858 |
October 17 | 1,882,743 | 1,136,145 | 3,018,888 |
November 17 | 2,261,795 | 1,218,064 | 3,479,859 |
December 17 | 2,029,776 | 1,200,104 | 3,229,881 |
January 18 | 2,555,326 | 1,174,878 | 3,730,204 |
February 18 | 2,209,577 | 1,174,878 | 3,384,455 |
March 18 | 2,338,005 | 1,174,878 | 3,562,783 |
[1] This includes Childcare Service Operations (CSO) Paybill and covers other work such as administration and processing costs
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse has been of administering childcare vouchers in each of the last 36 months.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
For question 137635, I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to the Honourable Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North on 1 March 2018 (129635).
The table below provides the breakdown of the costs for administering the childcare service each month by call centre and IT support cost. This includes the costs of supporting both Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare.
Month | Call Centre Costs[1] (£) | IT Support Costs (£) | Total Costs (£) |
April 17 | 936,275 | 1,001,488 | 1,937,763 |
May 17 | 1,158,196 | 1,136,145 | 2,294,341 |
June 17 | 1,333,135 | 1,136,145 | 2,469,280 |
July 17 | 1,572,458 | 1,252,344 | 2,824,802 |
August 17 | 1,955,659 | 1,336,145 | 3,291,804 |
September 17 | 2,362,997 | 1,459,861 | 3,822,858 |
October 17 | 1,882,743 | 1,136,145 | 3,018,888 |
November 17 | 2,261,795 | 1,218,064 | 3,479,859 |
December 17 | 2,029,776 | 1,200,104 | 3,229,881 |
January 18 | 2,555,326 | 1,174,878 | 3,730,204 |
February 18 | 2,209,577 | 1,174,878 | 3,384,455 |
March 18 | 2,338,005 | 1,174,878 | 3,562,783 |
[1] This includes Childcare Service Operations (CSO) Paybill and covers other work such as administration and processing costs
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 have (a) been created and (b) had at least one payment made from that account to date.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
As of 19 April 2018, more than 275,000 parents had opened a Tax–Free Childcare account and over 60,000 parents had used their account to make a payment to a childcare provider.
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.