Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment has he made on the effect of the tax-free childcare scheme on levels of employer engagement.

Tax-Free Childcare provides an opportunity for all employers to engage with working parents about their childcare arrangements, regardless of whether or not they offer childcare vouchers. HMRC are working with employers so that they understand the government childcare support which is available.

Employers across the UK can pay directly into parents’ Tax-Free Childcare accounts. A factsheet entitled “Tax-Free Childcare: What Employers Need to Know” sets out details of how to do this and can be found at the following link:

https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/communications-toolkit

Tax-Free Childcare is designed to be fairer and better targeted than the legacy system, childcare vouchers. We estimate that Tax-Free Childcare will provide support to nearly 1 million more families compared to the number using childcare vouchers.