The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nicky Morgan)
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
Hon. Members will be aware that, as we sit in the Chamber this afternoon, not only is overall employment in the United Kingdom at record levels, but female participation in the work force is at an all-time high. That means that across the country more people than ever before have jobs to wake up for at the start of the day, and pay cheques to take home at the end of the month. That is something that this Government can be proud of having helped to achieve.
However, we are by no means complacent, and we know that we can do more to remove the barriers that still prevent people who want to go to work from being able to do so. That is where the Bill comes in. Tax-free child care will be a simple scheme that is responsive to the needs of working families, whatever their work arrangements. The Bill will provide greater support to parents and, in turn, open up greater opportunities for them.
I would like to use my time at the Dispatch Box this afternoon, first, to remind Members why we are introducing these changes; secondly, to talk through exactly what form these changes will take; and finally, to explain how the changes will differ from, and improve on, the employer-supported child care scheme currently in place.
Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)
I am grateful to the Minister for giving way so early in her speech. I am concerned that the Bill does nothing about the supply of child care, particularly in rural and disadvantaged areas. How confident is she that the measures she proposes will indirectly stimulate greater provision?
Nicky Morgan
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point. As I am sure he will be aware, my colleagues in the Department for Education, and particularly the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), have been working to encourage the provision of more places, including by providing £500 to enable child minders to set up new businesses, and through schools and a wide variety of places. He is absolutely right that in order to tackle the issues of child care, we need to think about not only the costs but the supply side. We are confident that there will be places available for all the families who want them.
Let me turn first to the “why”. As hon. Members will know very well—many from their own experiences—every year millions of families across the country are faced with a difficult decision: whether it makes greater financial sense to stay at home and manage child care themselves or to go to work and arrange for someone else to do it.
Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)
I very much welcome the Government’s approach to tax-free child care, especially for the self-employed. In the past they have been ruled out of help, so the sooner we can put that right, the better.
Nicky Morgan
My hon. Friend is entirely right. I will move on to talk about the importance of the scheme for the self-employed and for those setting up or growing their own businesses. I am very pleased that he has raised that at this stage in the debate.
Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)
This measure will be welcomed by my constituents in Dover and Deal who work hard but do not get paid a lot of money. How many working families with children will benefit from this important measure?
Nicky Morgan
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. Some 1.9 million working families will have access to the scheme. Of those, 1.25 million will have qualifying child care costs and will benefit under the scheme. As I will explain, more families will benefit under this new scheme than currently benefit from employer-supported child care vouchers.
Of course, for some families there is no choice about who should look after the children, because the parent or parents have to go to work, and must therefore arrange child care. It is worth reminding Members that the research shows that this issue has had, and continues to have, a disproportionate impact on women. The Women’s Business Council, which has done an excellent job in its first year in drawing attention to the barriers women face and suggesting changes to help remove them, has frequently pointed to the way in which child care costs can have an undue impact on women’s careers. Recent survey data from the Department for Education show that more than half of mothers in the United Kingdom who are not in paid work would prefer to be in paid work if they could arrange reliable, convenient, affordable and good-quality child care.
We need to think about what is at stake, not just for the mothers whose careers are held back, and not just for the many fathers who are primary carers and experience the same problems, but for our economy. If we can equalise the labour force participation rates of men and women, the United Kingdom can further increase growth by 0.5% per year. That will be a huge change which could make a real difference to our families and our economy.
Hon. Members will know that the Government have already taken action on this matter. We have funded 15 hours a week of free child care for all three and four-year-olds, which is available to all families, including those where a parent is not working. We have funded 15 hours a week of free child care for the 20% of two-year-olds who are most disadvantaged. From this September, we are extending that offer to about 40% of two-year-olds.
Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)
I apologise for the fact that I am going to have to leave to pick up my own children from child care. Will the Minister confirm that a lot of parents who need access to child care help need it now, and that it was a mistake on the part of the Government, back in 2011, to reduce the child care support that was available when they made cuts to working tax credit?
Nicky Morgan
I entirely agree that families need support now. I have been setting out exactly what we have done in extending to 15 hours a week the free child care available for all three and four-year-olds, as well as for disadvantaged two-year-olds. On working tax credit, let me point out that the Government are spending £1.1 billion on the child care element of tax credits each year, so many families are still, rightly, receiving a huge amount of support through the tax credit system. We are proposing an enhancement of the child care offer that we already have.
We are taking action to drive up the supply of high-quality child care provision by legislating for childminder agencies, encouraging primary schools to open for longer, and reducing bureaucracy and red tape for providers—all steps that should help to drive supply up and costs down.
The Bill represents a further step towards helping hard-working families. We are committed to launching the scheme next autumn and rolling it out to all eligible families with children under 12 within the first year of its operation.
Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)
There is a concern that while single parents can access the new system, families with one parent in work and one not in work would not be entitled to anything. What can be done to assist people in such circumstances? From a Northern Ireland perspective, I know that there will be a legislative consent motion to deal with this legislation, but what advice can the Minister give now, in advance of such an LCM and in advance of the Bill’s implementation?
Nicky Morgan
I thank the hon. Lady for making that point, which is certainly of interest to everybody concerned with the issue of child care and who should look after children. I want to be very clear that this is about a choice, for those families who can afford it, in that they can decide that one parent will not be working, at least for a certain period. Of course, however, some families do not have that choice, with both parents needing to work, and there are lone parents who will need to work. For families where one parent is not working, we have introduced the married couples tax allowance, which has been legislated for in the Finance Bill, and those families will be receiving a tax benefit of just over £200 a year. This proposal is very much about enabling parents to play a full part in the labour market. That is why we have brought this Bill forward at this time.
Ms Ritchie
I am looking at this issue in a Northern Ireland context, and I am sure that there are many regions in Britain with similar circumstances. What happens if the other partner cannot access full-time or even part-time occupations, which is a reality for many families throughout the UK?
Nicky Morgan
Employment levels have gone up substantially under this Government. More people are getting jobs and more hours. As I say, the Bill is about a choice. With more people securing employment, this is about enabling families to make a choice if both parents need to or want to work, or, in the case of lone-parent families, providing support that is more generous than the current employer-supported child care voucher scheme.
The scheme, which launches next autumn, is to be rolled out to all those eligible families with children under 12 within the first year of its operation. The real triumph of the scheme is that it will make hundreds of thousands of parents who are currently excluded from support eligible for it.
The scheme has been designed so that support is available to the self-employed, who play a crucial role in our economy but are currently excluded, and so that it suits the needs of part-time workers, who are very often parents staggering their way back into full-time work, and those parents who are temporarily absent from the workplace—for example, during statutory parental leave. It is also designed to support those couples where one member is in work and the other is in receipt of carer’s allowance or employment and support allowance, by making them eligible for the new scheme.
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
The Minister is reading out a list, but on the question of future roll-out, Opposition Members are very concerned about universal credit, the future of which we spent much time discussing in the Chamber last week. When will additional support be made available for those low-income families, who deserve help with the costs of child care? Is it really the case that 4 million low-income families could be waiting until 2017, and why is there still so much uncertainty around funding this part of the programme for universal credit?
Nicky Morgan
I do not think there is uncertainty around that, but there is uncertainty among Opposition Members and I find it staggering that they are criticising and querying universal credit when it is absolutely needed. I think that all Government Members and most people in the Chamber will agree with that. From April 2016, working families will be able to recover 85% of their actual child care costs under universal credit.
Barbara Keeley
Where will that be funded from, because there is also a lack of clarity about how it will be funded?
Nicky Morgan
I do not think there is a lack of clarity. We have published regulations today and there will be further debate during the Bill’s Committee stage, so may I suggest—[Interruption.] More information and plenty of guidance will be made available to families who might move from universal credit to tax-free child care and to those who might have to move back again. That will be available online and there will be a provision to enable people to get guidance from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs as to which scheme is most suitable for them.
Nicky Morgan
I am not going to give way again. The point is that, under universal credit, families will get support for 85% of their child care costs. In short, this is a system that recognises and adapts to the complexities of modern working patterns. It also goes a long way towards providing the simplicity sought by many parents.
Someone with a screaming child in one arm and a BlackBerry with a screaming boss on the end of it in the other hand does not want to spend their time negotiating a complex and rigid child care scheme. We have therefore been working incredibly hard to ensure that the scheme will be simple, responsive and flexible. It will be easy for parents to register and open a child care account and to access the scheme through online portals. It will be flexible to the changing demands of child care they face. It will allow them to pay in money when they want to, and it will also allow other people to pay in, such as grandparents or an employer. In many cases, it may well be a family member who is keen to support the child’s upbringing. The scheme will also allow parents to spend money on qualifying child care at a time of their choosing, by allowing them to use their vouchers on, for example, summer holiday clubs, not just during the school term.
Hywel Williams
The service will be provided online. How confident is the Minister that parents in rural areas such as mine, where broadband is either very slow or non-existent, will not be disadvantaged?
Nicky Morgan
That is why this Government are providing a huge amount of money—more was announced last week—to enable communities to get online, including broadband. Many families are already able to access services online and via broadband. Rather than look for problems, it would be helpful if everyone in this House went out and sold the scheme to families, so as to enable them to register and make it a reality.
Nicky Morgan
I want to make some progress.
On flexibility, parents and families will be able to build up balances in their accounts, to meet the cost pressures of expensive times of the year. The scheme will also provide rigidity where parents need it. Once eligible for the scheme, parents can rest assured that they will continue to be entitled to support for three months, regardless of any changes in circumstances they may experience.
Hon. Members with further questions about the scheme’s practicalities may wish to note that we have today published the draft regulations for consultation. They contain the detailed rules concerning eligibility for the scheme—for example, what qualifying paid work means—and its operation, such as how and when a declaration of eligibility might be made.
Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)
In relation to the transparency of the regulations and the clarity of the scheme, will the Treasury publish a distributional analysis so that we can understand how families will benefit? How much will the average family benefit per year from the new scheme?
Nicky Morgan
We already have figures showing that for the 1 million families who will gain from the introduction of the scheme, the average additional support will be £600 a year. Obviously, the Government top-up very much depends on how much families put into the accounts for themselves. For example, a working single parent with one child who has child care costs of £5,000 will receive £1,000 of support from the scheme. I will certainly take away the hon. Lady’s suggestion, but the figures are already fairly clear. The level depends on families’ contributions, which will then be matched by the Government.
As hon. Members will be aware, when the tax-free child care scheme is introduced, employer-supported child care will be closed to new entrants. Parents who already receive support through that scheme can continue to receive it in exactly the same way as long as they continue to work for their current employer and the employer continues to offer the scheme. Workplace nurseries will not be affected by the changes.
Those who favour the current arrangements need to remember that under the present system less than 5% of employers offer employer-supported child care, leaving more than half of all employees—as well as all self-employed parents, and most employees on the minimum wage—without support. In contrast, tax-free child care will be available to all working families provided that they meet the eligibility criteria. As such, we expect the scheme to be open to at least twice as many families as the current one.
We expect the new scheme to be much fairer. One of the main failings of existing employer-supported child care is that it disadvantages lone parents by providing twice as much support to couples in which both partners work for employers offering the scheme than it does to single parents. To be completely frank, that does not seem right, so the Bill addresses that unfairness. It will ensure that the level of support provided is determined not by the number of parents in work, but by the number of children in the household. That means that for a family with two children, the maximum level of child care costs supported by tax-free child care will be three times the maximum level supported by employer-supported child care.
It is worth reminding the House that the existing scheme is an inefficient one. At present, employers receive a national insurance contributions disregard of up to 13.8% for operating an employer-supported child care scheme, despite the fact that it generally costs them significantly less than that to run their scheme. We should remember that that taxpayer money is not actually spent on child care support. There will therefore be no employer’s national insurance contributions breaks in tax-free child care once the new scheme becomes available.
We know that many employers value the role they can play in supporting their employees, including by helping them with their child care costs. We hope that such employers will continue to take an active, voluntary role in the new scheme. In fact, many have told us that they intend to do so. Although it may disappoint some hon. Members that the Government have no intention of making any form of employer role mandatory, they should remember that that is because we want to minimise the burdens on small businesses. We also want to maximise the scheme’s fairness so that it is the same whether people are self-employed, employed by a small shop or employed by a huge multinational.
We want to increase the support available to hard-working families with their child care costs as soon as possible. We especially need to support the women of the United Kingdom, who are disproportionately impacted by the complexity and unfairness of the current child care arrangements. The more women we can help back to work—if they want and need to work—then the more people we can get back to work, the more we can drive growth in our economy, the more we can reduce some of the inequalities that still blight our workplaces and the more we can raise the quality of life not only for millions of parents but, crucially, for their children.
I was tempted to say that the Bill represents a baby step in the right direction, but it represents so much more. This is a hugely important change for mothers, fathers, children, families and employers. As such, I am incredibly proud to stand at the Dispatch Box and to commend the Bill to the House.
Catherine McKinnell
My hon. Friend makes a powerful and important point, and I think we should celebrate on a cross-party basis the fact that we now have consensus that the Government need to take on board this issue and that addressing it can improve the life chances of families, in particular children. That is a huge credit to the last Labour Government who pushed this issue forward and raised it up in terms of political acceptance and cross-party agreement and as an issue that Government cannot simply turn their back on.
None the less we have seen soaring costs, falling numbers of places and cuts in tax credits for thousands of families and, as a result, in 2015 families will be worse off than they were in 2010. Even when the help arrives, it is unclear who exactly will benefit from this scheme, and even then it is unclear how much better off some people will be and many might legitimately ask whether they will actually be better off. In the Government’s original consultation last August, they estimated that 2.5 million working families would be eligible for support under this scheme, but in their revised consultation, set out in the subsequent consultation response in March, that number was reduced to 1.9 million families, and therefore around 2.6 million children. However, the Government estimate that only two thirds of those 1.9 million working families—so, about 1.25 million—will have qualifying child care costs. As far as I can tell, however, Ministers have never properly explained what that crucial difference is, because clauses 1 and 2 of the Bill define qualifying child care based on two criteria—first, whether the child care is provided by a registered and accredited provider, and, secondly, where one of the main reasons for the child care is to enable parents to go to work—but that does not explain why 1.9 million families are eligible, yet only 1.25 million such families have eligible child care costs. In fact, as far as I can tell, the Bill does not specifically refer to qualifying child care costs anywhere. I see the Minister shaking her head and I am sure she would like to clarify this point.
Nicky Morgan
First, I said in my speech that qualifying child care costs would be defined in the regulations that have been published today and that, no doubt, we will be discussing in Committee. In relation to the other two points the hon. Lady raised, first I am sure she welcomes the fact that, as part of the announcements in March, we said tax-free child care must be rolled out much more quickly, which partly accounts for the change from 2.5 million to 1.9 million, as we are much better able to estimate because we are rolling it out over a period of 12 months. Secondly, we must appreciate that some families will want child care but it will not be for the purposes of going to work and therefore the taxpayer will not be paying for it. There is also the element of child care having to be Ofsted registered, and, again, many families will decide that they do not want to access formal child care which is Ofsted-registered as they instead have other child care arrangements. Again, that is something the taxpayer is not going to cover at this stage.
Catherine McKinnell
I thank the Minister for that clarification, but I am surprised she thinks it is acceptable that on the day we are debating this Bill on Second Reading we should be able to debate these regulations that have only been published today. I am also very surprised by the comments she makes about the timetable. The Government have obviously had to re-consult on this issue so they are far behind their original timetable anyway, so I am not—
Catherine McKinnell
In a moment I will. First, I will finish what I am saying, which is that this is far too little, too late, and no child care support is available from this Government for this entire Parliament, but I would be happy for the Minister to correct me on that.
Nicky Morgan
The regulations were published today for this Second Reading debate, earlier than might otherwise have been the case, because I wanted the House to be informed. Moreover, the consultation that we have launched in relation to the delivery providers in no way affects the Bill’s timetable. I would not want the hon. Lady to let the House think that the timetable is affected. It certainly is not. We intend that the scheme will be launched and ready for families to access from autumn 2015, as we have always said.
Catherine McKinnell
I was referring to the Government’s original timetable that they are already behind on, but I appreciate that it is intended this offer will be implemented in autumn 2015, as she says. We hope that that will be the case. However I do have a number of questions about the implementation. Unfortunately, Ministers have repeatedly refused to set out the specifics of who will be better off and by how much, or whether people will be better off as a result of these measures. I have tabled a series of written parliamentary questions to try to gain clarity on those points, but disappointingly, although not surprisingly, the answers from the Financial Secretary have not been helpful in the slightest. In many cases, the right hon. Lady has simply failed to answer the questions. It would appear from her responses that the Department is simply not aware of what proportion of families paying for child care will benefit from the Bill, how it will benefit different income groups proportionally, and what the average top-up will be per child once the scheme is up and running. It is hard to believe that the Treasury is not in possession of such data. Surely it is fundamental to understanding what the Bill’s impact might be on the Exchequer, and on children and families.
The only indication that we have about how the Bill will impact on different income groups is from work undertaken by the Resolution Foundation, which suggests that the scheme could be skewed towards higher earnings, which might go some way to explain why the Minister has been so unforthcoming with responses to the various questions put.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Andrea Leadsom)
I thank all hon. Members who have spoken in the debate. Given the incredibly valuable contribution that this Bill makes to supporting working families, it is a great shame that no Opposition Back Benchers wanted to celebrate its arrival. It is fairly safe to say that the vast majority of Members who spoke agree that more needs to be done to support families with child care costs. It is also safe to say that the majority recognise not only the impact that an improvement in this area could have on millions of households but the impact it could have on the wider economy. We largely agree that more should be done to help more people, particularly more women, back into work. However, some Members described their concerns about the specifics of the scheme or the way in which it will be implemented, so I will do my best to respond to as many of those concerns as I can.
For most of us, having a baby is the most rewarding and challenging thing we ever do. It is incredibly hard to juggle home, children and a job, but whatever families choose to do, we recognise that they are best placed to make that choice. With three kids of my own, and having worked only part-time when they were small, I know I sometimes went to work for a rest, so I take my hat off to all the heroines, and some heroes, who choose to stay at home. This Government support you and salute you. Through this Bill, we want to provide more support for working families. That is why we are introducing tax-free child care to help families with the costs so that they can go out and work if they choose to or need to. They are the right people to make that decision, and we support them in that choice.
Some hon. Members implied that we may have over-consulted, but given the number of people this change will affect, and to help to ensure that the scheme works as well as possible, we have consulted very widely on its design over the past year and listened to the feedback we have received. We are considering the responses to our most recent consultation, which closed on 27 June, alongside those we received on the first one, and we will publish our response in due course. Whatever that response says, though, we are confident that the Bill has the necessary flexibility to allow for the delivery of child care accounts through the private sector or the public sector, and through a single provider or multiple providers.
The hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell) made various points about who will benefit from the scheme. First, to qualify for tax-free child care, parents need earn only a little over £50 a week, so this is a boost to all families, whatever their earnings. Secondly, the overall system of child care support remains firmly focused on those on lower incomes. In just two months’ time, the Government will introduce a system that entitles 40% of two-year-olds from the lowest-income families to 15 hours of free education every week. In the Budget, we announced that all families eligible for universal credit will benefit from additional support, up to 85% of costs. We need to recognise that many families—not just the poorest but those across all income groups—are seriously struggling with the high costs of child care. While of course we want to focus our help on those with the lowest incomes, those in higher earnings brackets also warrant some support.
The Government recognise that child care costs have risen significantly over the past 20 years and are a huge issue for all working families. During the last eight years of the previous Government, child care costs increased by 50%, but they are now beginning to stabilise. Figures from the National Day Nurseries Association show that the average fee increase across all nurseries in the past year was just 1.5%, which is below inflation. Nevertheless, child care costs remain a massive problem for many parents who find that their income is eaten up by them. We need to extend free entitlement. That is why we are also increasing the supply of child care places and, ultimately, why we are introducing this Bill.
Government Members made some very good points. My hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel) expressed her support for this much needed Bill. She said that flexibility in child care arrangements is absolutely vital to families, that child care costs are very high, that Labour’s economic legacy has significantly hurt families, and that it is important that we now provide support for those families in dealing with the costs of child care. My hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland), who speaks with such passion on this subject, welcomed the Government’s support for families with disabled children, who will benefit from this support up to the age of 17.
My hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) welcomed the fact that more women are in work than ever before. She said that mothers often know best what is needed for child care; of course, we all recognise that. She talked about how to deal with the pipeline of talent and the barriers to working that women face. She highlighted support for carers and those on parental leave and welcomed the Bill’s offer of much more support to working women, in particular.
My hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith) explained that there is no household security without controlling public spending. She said that the measures in this Bill, while providing support for families, also ensure that we do not, as Labour Members suggest, just throw unfunded money at a project that could deliver more child care, but at an unknown cost to the public purse.
The hon. Members for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) and for Manchester Central asked how many families will be better off and by how much. I assure them that well over 1 million families will be better off, by an average of £600 a year. It is important to note that the Government support provided through this Bill will be 20p in the pound up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year. The amount of benefit depends on how much families are spending on child care.
Labour Members claimed that there are fewer child care places than there were at the time of the election, but that is simply not the case. In fact, as my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Sarah Newton) pointed out, the latest figures show that there are about 100,000 more child care places than there were in 2009, and that represents a 5% increase. However, the Government are not complacent. We are working further to increase child care supply by providing start-up grants for new child care businesses, making good and outstanding childminders automatically eligible for early education funding, increasing the child care available in schools, introducing new childminder agencies, and creating simpler regulations allowing nurseries to expand more easily.
Labour Members questioned why parents cannot use the new scheme at the same time as tax credits and universal credit. Families in receipt of tax credits already receive more generous support with child care costs, and this is being extended in universal credit, where support towards the costs of child care will be available regardless of the number of hours worked and will provide support of up to 85% of the costs from April 2016.
The hon. Member for Manchester Central asked about parents who work on zero-hours contracts. The contractual position of parents will not determine whether they are eligible for the new scheme. The Government want to support all working families with their child care costs. Parents on zero-hours contracts will be eligible for the new scheme in the same way as anyone else, provided they meet the eligibility criteria, including the rules on qualifying employment. As I said, parents have to expect to earn a little over £50 a week, on average, during a quarter.
The hon. Lady asked about Sure Start. I would have hoped that Labour Members were delighted that 3,000 children’s centres are open and record numbers of parents and children are using them—over 1 million. It is up to local authorities to decide how to organise and commission services for children’s centres in their areas. Labour Members will know that I am passionate about children’s centres, as I know they are. However, I am extremely concerned when they talk about centres closing when they know full well that, in many cases, organisations have streamlined their administration by putting a number of centres under a hub system. In fact, only 1% of children’s centres have closed.
The hon. Lady asked how the Government will provide advice to enable parents to make calculations and choose between universal credit and tax-free child care. We recognise the importance of providing information and support to help parents make an informed choice about which scheme to access. Therefore, alongside wider guidance and information, we will provide support and online tools for parents choosing from tax credits, universal credit and the scheme under discussion.
The hon. Lady also asked what we are doing to improve the supply side. As I said earlier, we are taking a number of measures, including introducing new childminder agencies, which will help—
Andrea Leadsom
The idea is to promote more support for childminders. The hon. Lady will recognise that, under the previous Government, many childminders fell off the radar, because, as surveys showed, they felt under-supported, over-regulated and overburdened. The idea of childminder agencies is to provide the support, training and guidance that will enable them to go into business, and to support those that are good and outstanding to expand more rapidly.
As a result of the changes under discussion, more working families than ever before will be eligible for support with their child care costs. The Bill will introduce a less complex, more generous system of support, which should result in more parents being able to enter the work force with the confidence that quality, affordable child care is available for their children. The proposals have been welcomed by families and child care providers across the country and by many businesses that realise how important support for families can be in helping them to attract and retain good staff.
In short, this Bill will support the future of our economy and the well-being of our children. As such, I commend it wholeheartedly to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Bill accordingly read a Second time.
Childcare Payments Bill (Programme)
Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83A(7)),
That the following provisions shall apply to the Childcare Payments Bill:
Committal
1. The Bill shall be committed to a Public Bill Committee.
Proceedings in Public Bill Committee
2. Proceedings in the Public Bill Committee shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion on Tuesday 28 October 2014.
3. The Public Bill Committee shall have leave to sit twice on the first day on which it meets.
Consideration and Third Reading
4. Proceedings on Consideration shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour before the moment of interruption on the day on which those proceedings are commenced.
5. Proceedings on Third Reading shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at the moment of interruption on that day.
6. Standing Order No. 83B (Programming committees) shall not apply to proceedings on Consideration and Third Reading.
Other proceedings
7. Any other proceedings on the Bill (including any proceedings on consideration of Lords Amendments or on any further messages from the Lords) may be programmed.—(Mr Gyimah.)
Question agreed to.
Childcare Payments Bill (Money)
Queen’s recommendation signified.
Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 52(1)(a)),
That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Childcare Payments Bill, it is expedient to authorise the payment out of money provided by Parliament of any increase attributable to the Act in the sums payable under any other Act out of money so provided.—(Mr Gyimah.)
Question agreed to.
Childcare Payments Bill (Ways and Means)
Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 52(1)(a)),
That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Childcare Payments Bill, it is expedient to authorise the restriction of relief from income tax in respect of the provision for an employee of childcare, or vouchers for obtaining childcare, under a scheme operated by or on behalf of the employer.—(Mr Gyimah.)
Question agreed to.
Business of the House (Data Retention and Investigatory Powers)
Ordered,
That, in respect of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill, notices of Amendments, new Clauses and new Schedules to be moved in Committee may be accepted by the Clerks at the Table before the Bill has been read a second time.—(Tom Brake.)