Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Tax-free Childcare

Tuesday 21 March 2023 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Tax-free childcare provides financial support for working parents with their childcare costs.
  • The Chancellor announced at the spring Budget that all eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year.
  • The Chancellor indicated that he would be happy to meet Andrea Leadsom to discuss childcare support policies further.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Carla Lockhart DUP Upper Bann
Economy Taxation Children & Families
Context

The question arises from the need to assess how increasing tax-free childcare allowance could affect parents' ability to work.

Question

If he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of increasing the tax-free childcare allowance on the ability of parents to work.

Answer from John Glen

Tax-free childcare provides financial support for working parents with their childcare costs. In addition to tax-free childcare, the Chancellor announced at the spring Budget that all eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year, from when their child is nine months old until they start school.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The assessment of impact on parents' ability to work was not addressed.

How: Changing Subject

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Q2 Carla Lockhart DUP Upper Bann
Taxation Benefits & Welfare Children & Families
Context

The question follows a previous response, focusing on the government's efforts to support working families through tax-free childcare.

Question

I thank the Minister for his response. When will the Government start to reward the working families of this United Kingdom? The Chancellor is giving tax breaks to the wealthy to top up their pension pots, yet cannot support working families by increasing personal allowance or offering tax-free childcare that supports all families with childcare needs, particularly those with older children.

Answer from John Glen

I do not accept the overall characterisation that the hon. Lady has given. Just in November last year, 428,000 families and 511,000 children benefited from tax-free childcare. The announcements last week will make a significant contribution, and of course that work will start immediately, with the Department for Education consultation. We have a commitment of £204 million for the coming financial year, and £288 million for the following year, to increase supply so that we can deliver this as quickly as possible.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The question about reforming the high-income child benefit charge was not directly addressed.

How: Changing Subject

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Q3 Andrea Leadsom Con
Children & Families
Context

The question arises from the need to further discuss and develop policies providing more childcare support for families.

Question

I congratulate the Treasury team on the excellent new policy of providing much more childcare support to families. Will my right hon. Friend persuade the Chancellor to meet me and a small group of colleagues to talk about the policy in the round and about how we can give more support to all families, providing more flexibility where informal childcare is provided—for example, by grandparents—and ensuring that families who want to look after their children at home are not, in effect, left out and left in poverty as a result of the decisions they make for their family?

Answer from John Glen

I thank my right hon. Friend for her question, and I welcomed the chance to discuss this matter at length with her recently. The Chancellor has indicated that he would be happy to meet her, and I would also be happy to meet her again.

Answered

Not addressed: null

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