Became Member: 29th June 2001
Left House: 29th January 2018 (Death)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Lord Sutherland of Houndwood, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Sutherland of Houndwood has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Sutherland of Houndwood has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The announced measures mean from April 2016, families with children who have childcare costs below the defined limits will see an improved financial incentive to work and to work more hours.
Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out many working families will face an improved incentive to work, including 100,000 families who will get childcare support for the first time under Universal Credit. The precise improvement an individual faces will vary according to circumstance.
We have not made a specific estimate of how this feeds through into employment rates and tax receipts.
It is well known that childcare costs can be a significant barrier to maternal employment, which is why the Government is investing in childcare in Universal Credit. Universal Credit will cover childcare costs for families where the lone parent or both parents in a couple work any hours, whereas Tax Credits childcare support is only payable past 16 hours worked per week. At Budget '14 the Government announced an increase in the rate of childcare support in Universal Credit from 70% (as per the current system) to 85% of eligible childcare costs, up to defined limits, from April 2016. These measures combined mean that around 500,000 working families will get more out of the money they earn, including 100,000 families who will get childcare support for the first time under Universal Credit.
We would expect the changes in childcare support under Universal Credit to have a positive impact on work incentives for mothers, affecting maternal employment rates and tax receipts from mothers paying Income Tax and National Insurance.
Details of the estimated economic effects from the introduction of Tax-Free Childcare can be found in the Childcare Payments Bill Impact Assessment[1]
The Department for Education leads on childcare policy across government. As in all areas of policy, HM Treasury officials help ensure that policy development is coordinated across departments.
Details of the estimated economic effects from the introduction of Tax-Free Childcare can be found in the Childcare Payments Bill Impact Assessment.[1]
The Childcare Payments Bill will introduce the Government’s new tax free childcare scheme. As part of our long term economic plan, Tax-Free childcare will enable more parents to go out to work, if they want to, to provide greater security for their families.