Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons universal credit recipients are required to take physical receipts of childcare to a job centre in order to receive the contribution her Department makes towards childcare costs.

Experience from Tax Credits shows there is a need for a higher level of verification of childcare costs. Claimants only have to provide physical receipts at the start of the claim and if they have a change in childcare arrangements, such as a change in childcare provider. Claimants can choose to either post in their receipts, or can make an appointment to see their Work Coach, whichever is most convenient for the claimant.

We are currently developing a new functionality for Universal Credit online accounts, which will allow claimants to upload evidence of their childcare costs via their online Universal Credit account. This new function should be available to use in Spring 2018, making it even easier for claimants to provide evidence of these costs.