Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government will consider amending the Childcare Act 2006 to allow registered childminders to claim funded childcare hours for children to whom they are related, where all regulatory requirements are met.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Parents are free to choose the childcare that is right for them and their children, and childminders are not prevented from caring for related children. However, the restriction on funding relatives is set out in the Childcare Act (2006). Section 18(4) of this Act specifically excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative.

This approach avoids creating an incentive for adults to register to become childminders and being paid to look after related children that they are already looking after on an informal basis. Allowing childminders to receive funding for looking after related children would not be an effective use of public money.

A local authority can choose to fund a childminder providing childcare for a related child, but this would have to be from local authority funds independent of the Dedicated Schools Grant.

Although childminders cannot receive entitlements funding for related children, flexibilities within staff-to-child ratios can be used to enable childminders who are caring for related children to avoid limiting the income they can earn.

We have no plans to change this long-standing position at this time.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his department’s timeline is for deciding on the second wave of Modern Service Frameworks; and whether respiratory conditions will be considered.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for City of Durham on 16 April 2026 to Question 125554.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the value of payments made to With-Profits Annuitants under the Equitable Life Payments Scheme to date.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Of the £1.5 billion, £775 million was allocated to be paid as lump sums to with profits non-annuitants, and £625 million allocated to With-Profit-Annuitants (WPAs) to be paid annually for the duration of the annuity, as they were the most vulnerable group. This includes a £100 million contingency fund to ensure there is provision for annuitants, should they live longer than their actuarial forecast and brings the total allocated to WPAs up to £725 million.

Draft Code of Practice on Services, public functions and associations

Found: Prisoners of Conscience Dan Carden: Guaranteeing the Right to Maintain Contact in Care Settings Lizzi Collinge

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bill Esterson (Chair); Sir Christopher Chope; Lizzi Collinge; Graeme