Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122814, whether it is possible to access 30 hours of childcare without a live childcare account.

When a parent completes an application for 30 hours free childcare, an online childcare account is created automatically. The majority of parents currently accessing 30 hours free childcare will have a live childcare account.

Where a parent becomes ineligible, or chooses not to reconfirm their details, their childcare account will no longer be live, but they can still access 30 hours free childcare for a short period known as a “grace period”.

In addition, some parents who have experienced technical difficulties were issued a 30 hours code manually. These parents may not have a live childcare account.