Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is for her Department to process a claim for help with childcare.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Where childcare is delivered during an assessment period, the cost paid for that childcare will be reimbursed at the end of the assessment period in which it is delivered. In order to be reimbursed, childcare costs can be reported to DWP up to the end of the assessment period following the assessment period in which they were paid.

The exact waiting time for reimbursement, therefore, depends on how far in advance a claimant pays their childcare provider and how soon the claimant reports those costs to DWP.

UC claimants who need help with upfront childcare costs to enter employment or significantly increase their working hours can apply for help from the Flexible Support Fund (FSF). This is non-repayable and will pay their initial childcare costs directly to the provider up to the first salary received.