Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the average benefit that will accrue to families from the proposed tax-free childcare scheme.

I am pleased to confirm the government will soon be launching Tax-Free Childcare which will allow working families to receive up to £2,000 childcare support per child, per year. The new scheme will roll out gradually following the completion of the current Trial.

Tax-Free Childcare will be rolled out to all eligible families before the end of 2017 in a safe and managed way to ensure that the system runs smoothly for parents.

The average benefit accruing to families from the proposed Tax-Free Childcare scheme is estimated to be around £800 per year.

The estimated cost of Tax-Free Childcare in each year of this parliament is shown in the table below.

These estimates are published in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook - November 2016.

www.budgetresponsibility.org.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-november-2016/

As set out at Autumn Statement 2016, once the scheme is fully rolled out, the government will review its operation to ensure it is delivering as intended and to assess the benefit it is delivering for working parents. We will also publish details about the numbers of families taking-up the scheme.