Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the availability of flexible, remote or hybrid working on mothers with childcare responsibilities, including in Basingstoke; whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) school hours, (b) school holidays and (c) the availability of informal childcare on women’s participation in the labour market; and whether his Department plans to take steps to help encourage employers to offer flexible roles that enable parents to (i) maintain employment, (ii) develop skills and (iii) reduce reliance on out-of-work benefits.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We’re delivering a modern deal for working parents through the Employment Rights Act. Improving access to flexible working to allow parents to fit work around their family life, and employers will be expected to agree flexible working requests unless there is a clear and reasonable reason why they can’t.
Access to childcare support is essential in enabling parents to move into or progress in employment. Eligible Universal Credit (UC) customers can be reimbursed up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month up to the maximum amounts (caps). The UC childcare offer can be used alongside the Department for Education’s early years and childcare entitlements in England to help cover costs of childcare during school holidays and before or after the school day, and there are similar offers in the Devolved Nations.
To deliver our long-term ambition, the Department for Education is leading a cross-government review of early education and childcare support to design and deliver a simpler system that maximises benefits for child development and parents’ ability to work or work more hours.
We are also investing up to £289m in Wraparound Childcare places before and after school, and during the school holidays, rolling out Free Universal Breakfast Clubs in every primary school, and spending over £200m each year on free Holiday Childcare places for our most disadvantaged children. These policies will ensure that parents have access to affordable, quality childcare so they can work, study, and train.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the eligibility rules for receiving 30 hours of free childcare.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
We are delivering more support to working families than ever before with the rollout of the 30 hours government-funded childcare entitlement since September 2025.
To be eligible, each working parent in a household must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum or Living Wage, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year.
Childcare support is made up of several different systems and has developed gradually over time, with add-ons and expansions made by subsequent governments. This can make it confusing for both parents and early years providers to understand and apply for the help available. We will continue improving the system so that all children, regardless of background, can benefit from high-quality early education and childcare, and parents are supported to work.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 5 January (HL13131), when they expect to be in a position to share more information on the planned review of childcare provision.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Childcare Review is currently in the early stages of cross government discussions to consider how the early education and childcare alongside family support works for families and children. We will also be working with stakeholders throughout the year to gather insights and build our evidence base. We aim to conclude the Review later this year.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the benefit cap on children's physical and mental health outcomes, including nutrition, stress and access to early intervention services.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The benefit cap aims to incentivise work as, where possible, it is in the best interest of children to be in working households. Living in a working family has a positive impact on children’s educational attainment, mental health, and long-term aspirations. The Government is driving forward labour market interventions that will deliver a step-change in support and help parents to enter and progress in work.
Alongside employment support, the department supports families in work through an exemption from the benefit cap for households earning at least £846 each month. There is also protection for the most vulnerable as those who are caring or are severely disabled are exempt from the benefit cap.
The Government is investing in the future of our children and introducing a fundamental change by removing the two child limit on Universal Credit and therefore reinstating support for all children. This comes alongside a package of measures that will drive down working poverty by raising the minimum wage, creating more secure jobs by strengthening rights at work, and expanding free childcare.
Furthermore, the Government is committed to rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority by April 2026 and creating up to 1,000 hubs across the country by the end of 2028. Family Hubs will offer universal, open access support for families and connect them to other local services such as healthcare, welfare, early education, and housing.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential impact of changes to childminder tax arrangements on the delivery of funded childcare hours.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Childminders play a vital role in childcare. The Government has eased rules on working from schools and community centres and increased early years funding rates above 2023 average fees. These increases reflect increased costs, and from April 2026, local authorities must pass at least 97 per cent of funding to providers.
At Budget 2025 the Government confirmed that the standard rules for calculating income tax would apply to childminders who are mandated into Making Tax Digital (MTD). HMRC engaged with stakeholders including Coram PACEY ahead of Budget 2025. We will phase in this change between 2026 and 2028, in line with the MTD income thresholds. The threshold from April 2026 is £50,000 of qualifying income, reducing to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Childminders not within MTD can continue to use existing arrangements if they wish.
Childminders within MTD can continue to claim tax relief for wear and tear by deducting the actual cost of buying, repairing or replacing items. They can also deduct the cost of business expenses such as utilities, cleaning and equipment. This ensures childminders receive tax relief for all of the costs that they incur in relation to their childminding business. Childminders may be better off deducting actual costs, if deductions under the existing arrangements are lower than their actual expenses.
HMRC will publish updated guidance for childminders in early 2026. Guidance on business expenses and on MTD for Income Tax is already available on GOV.UK. The Government will closely monitor the impacts of the policy over the course of the first year.
The Chancellor discusses a range of policy matters with Ministerial colleagues.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a reduction in the number of experienced childminders on the availability of early years and out-of-school childcare places in the context of the expansion of funded childcare hours.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This department is taking a range of measures to support the financial sustainability of childminding businesses and other early years providers. From April 2026, local authorities will be required to pass at least 97% of their funding directly to providers (an increase from 96%). We are also working with local authorities and others to ensure that childminders and other early years providers can be paid monthly for the funded hours they provide, making their income more stable. Furthermore, from 1 November 2024, the government introduced new flexibilities to help childminders join and stay in the profession, supporting the government’s commitment to roll out expanded childcare entitlements and give children the best start in life.
In addition, the expansion of the early years entitlements could benefit childminders in different ways. For example, the national average three and four year-old hourly funding rate of local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%. Childminders may also benefit from an expected increase in demand for places.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the £100,000 earnings threshold for free childcare on incentives to work.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. The minimum income threshold rises in line with National Minimum Wage increases at the beginning of the financial year.
The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Parents who earn over the maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for three and four-year-olds in England.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the gap between her Department's funding rates for early years childcare and the cost of provision.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is prioritising and protecting investment in the early years, and in 2026/27 we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24.
On average nationally, next year we are increasing the 3- and 4-year-old hourly funding rate by 4.95%, the 2-year-old hourly funding rate by 4.36% and funding rate for the 9 months to 2-year-old entitlement by 4.28%. National average funding rate increases continue to reflect in full forecast cost pressures on the early years sector, including the National Living Wage announced at Autumn Budget 2025, and go further.
The department uses the early years national funding formulae (EYNFF) to distribute the early years entitlements budget to local authorities. The EYNFF determine local authority hourly funding rates by taking into consideration the different costs of delivering early years provision in different parts of the country.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any relationship between the benefit cap and demand for statutory children's services, including child protection referrals and family support interventions.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made by my department.
Our Best Start in Life Strategy, published in July 2025, sets out how we will expand and strengthen family service and improve the accessibility, affordability and quality of early years education and school-aged childcare in England.
From September 2025, 30 hours of Government-funded childcare is now available to eligible working parents of children from nine months old, enabling thousands more children to start school ready to learn (and giving parents greater freedom over jobs and working hours).
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the benefit cap on (1) access to early years provision for children, (2) school readiness, and (3) early developmental outcomes.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made by my department.
Our Best Start in Life Strategy, published in July 2025, sets out how we will expand and strengthen family service and improve the accessibility, affordability and quality of early years education and school-aged childcare in England.
From September 2025, 30 hours of Government-funded childcare is now available to eligible working parents of children from nine months old, enabling thousands more children to start school ready to learn (and giving parents greater freedom over jobs and working hours).