Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support working parents with childcare costs in Northern Ireland.

The early education and childcare entitlements are a devolved matter.

Parents may be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare which are UK-wide offers. Tax-Free Childcare can help with an additional 20% contribution to their childcare costs outside the entitlements, which can be worth up to £2,000 per year for children aged 0 to 11 or up to £4,000 per year for disabled children until they are 17.

Universal Credit Childcare aims to support parents to become financially resilient by moving into work and progressing in work. Eligible Universal Credit claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month regardless of the number of hours they work.

Support and guidance from pregnancy to early childhood is available here: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/.