Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 34683 on Universal Credit: Childcare, if she will have discussions with claimants on the potential merits of establishing definitions for those terms.

The Government recognises that childcare needs vary from customer to customer and area to area, and we are committed to working with the Department for Education to increase availability so that we can support customers’ varied needs.

At all times we want work coaches to ensure the requirements they impose on customers are reasonable given the customer’s capability and circumstance, and they do this through engaging with customers.

There are times where the customer’s circumstances are such that both work search and work availability requirements must be switched off completely for a period of time, known as easements. This includes, for example, customers caring for a child in considerable distress.

Work coaches can also use their discretion to switch off requirements when a customer’s child is ill in hospital or when they have other temporary childcare responsibilities.