Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual operating costs of administering (a) tax free childcare and (b) the childcare choices website are.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
More than 170,000 parents have a Tax-Free Childcare account. Over 45,000 parents have made a payment from their account. Many of the parents with a Tax-Free Childcare account are accessing 30 hours free childcare, meaning they have not yet needed to use Tax-Free Childcare. The childcare service is being gradually rolled out to parents of older children and therefore we expect usage to increase over time.
The average annual operating cost for the childcare service (through which parents access 30 hours free childcare and/or Tax-Free Childcare) over the five years to 2021/22 is estimated as £35.5m. The average annual operating cost for the Childcare Choices site is £8,800.
All remaining parents will be able to access Tax-Free Childcare by 14 February. When fully rolled out we estimate that 1.2 million families would be better off under Tax-Free Childcare.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of families who will be registered for the tax-free childcare scheme when it is fully operational in April 2018.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
More than 170,000 parents have a Tax-Free Childcare account. Over 45,000 parents have made a payment from their account. Many of the parents with a Tax-Free Childcare account are accessing 30 hours free childcare, meaning they have not yet needed to use Tax-Free Childcare. The childcare service is being gradually rolled out to parents of older children and therefore we expect usage to increase over time.
The average annual operating cost for the childcare service (through which parents access 30 hours free childcare and/or Tax-Free Childcare) over the five years to 2021/22 is estimated as £35.5m. The average annual operating cost for the Childcare Choices site is £8,800.
All remaining parents will be able to access Tax-Free Childcare by 14 February. When fully rolled out we estimate that 1.2 million families would be better off under Tax-Free Childcare.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many childcare accounts have been opened by parents in receipt of tax free childcare for children aged (a) 0, (b) 1, (c) 2 (d) 3, (e) 4, (f) 5, (g) 6, (h) 7, (i) 8, (j) 9, (k) 10, (l) 11 and (m) 12.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HM Revenue & Customs records the numbers of applicants for Tax-Free Childcare, and the children that they have applied for. HMRC also records eligibility information provided by parents in the application and reconfirmation processes. Eligibility information is checked against a range of Government data sources.
Tax-Free Childcare is currently available to working families whose youngest child was born on or after 24 November 2011. It will be rolled out to all eligible parents of children aged under 12 by the end of March 2018.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answers of 28 November to Question 115530 and Question 115536, what information his (a) his Department and (b) other Government Departments hold on the number of households who have applied for tax-free childcare through the childcare choices website.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HM Revenue & Customs records the numbers of applicants for Tax-Free Childcare, and the children that they have applied for. HMRC also records eligibility information provided by parents in the application and reconfirmation processes. Eligibility information is checked against a range of Government data sources.
Tax-Free Childcare is currently available to working families whose youngest child was born on or after 24 November 2011. It will be rolled out to all eligible parents of children aged under 12 by the end of March 2018.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households eligible for tax-free childcare are on incomes of (a) less than £19,999, (b) £20,000 to £39,999, (c) £40,000 to £59,999, (d) £60,000 to 79,999, (e) £80,000 to 99,999, (f) £100,000 to £119,999, (g) £120,000 to £139,999, (h) £140,000 to £159,999, (i) £160,000 to 179,999, and (j) £180,000 to £200,000.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The income critiera for Tax-Free Childcare is that parents (and their partner if they have one) earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours per week at national living wage, and less than £100,000 per annum, and not be claiming tax credits or Universal Credit.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people eligible for tax-free childcare earn (a) less than £10,000, (b) £10,001 to £19,999, (c) £20,000 to £29,999, (d) £30,000 to £39,999, (e) £40,000 to £49,999, (f) 50,000 to 59,999, (g) 60,000 to £69,999, (h) £70,000 to £79,999, (i) £80,000 to £89,999 and (j) £90,000 to £100,000.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The income critiera for Tax-Free Childcare is that parents (and their partner if they have one) earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours per week at national living wage, and less than £100,000 per annum, and not be claiming tax credits or Universal Credit.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients whose youngest child is under (a) seven, (b) eight, (c) nine, (d) 10, (e) 11 and (f) 12 years old who will be eligible for tax-free childcare when that scheme is open to parents of children in those age groups.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
I refer the honourable member to my response to my response to a Parliamentary Question (106916) on 16 October, which gives the number of live Tax-Free Childcare accounts.
The table below shows the estimated number of families with a youngest child aged under 7, 8, 9, and 10-11 who will be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare in 2018/19. However, not all of these families will use formal childcare or will be better off on Tax-Free Childcare and take-up is therefore expected to be lower.
Age of youngest child | Families eligible for TFC |
Under 7 | 1,580,000 |
7 | 160,000 |
8 | 170,000 |
9 | 140,000 |
10-11 | 200,000 |
On 15 November the government announced that Tax-Free childcare will be fully rolled out to all eligible parents by the end of March 2018.
Eligibility projections for Tax-Free Childcare cannot be broken down by Local Authority.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the 275,000 parents who have an open childcare account are eligible for tax-free childcare.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
I refer the honourable member to my response to my response to a Parliamentary Question (106916) on 16 October, which gives the number of live Tax-Free Childcare accounts.
The table below shows the estimated number of families with a youngest child aged under 7, 8, 9, and 10-11 who will be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare in 2018/19. However, not all of these families will use formal childcare or will be better off on Tax-Free Childcare and take-up is therefore expected to be lower.
Age of youngest child | Families eligible for TFC |
Under 7 | 1,580,000 |
7 | 160,000 |
8 | 170,000 |
9 | 140,000 |
10-11 | 200,000 |
On 15 November the government announced that Tax-Free childcare will be fully rolled out to all eligible parents by the end of March 2018.
Eligibility projections for Tax-Free Childcare cannot be broken down by Local Authority.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many parents in each local authority area are eligible for tax-free childcare; and how many parents have signed up to the childcare choices website to access that scheme.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
I refer the honourable member to my response to my response to a Parliamentary Question (106916) on 16 October, which gives the number of live Tax-Free Childcare accounts.
The table below shows the estimated number of families with a youngest child aged under 7, 8, 9, and 10-11 who will be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare in 2018/19. However, not all of these families will use formal childcare or will be better off on Tax-Free Childcare and take-up is therefore expected to be lower.
Age of youngest child | Families eligible for TFC |
Under 7 | 1,580,000 |
7 | 160,000 |
8 | 170,000 |
9 | 140,000 |
10-11 | 200,000 |
On 15 November the government announced that Tax-Free childcare will be fully rolled out to all eligible parents by the end of March 2018.
Eligibility projections for Tax-Free Childcare cannot be broken down by Local Authority.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether under the proposed limitation of child tax credits to the first two children in a household, a third child in that household with a date of birth after April 2017 would be eligible for child tax credit payment, if the second child were cared for under kinship care arrangements or had been born as a result of non-consensual sex.
Answered by David Gauke
In future, all families - those in receipt of benefits and those supporting themselves solely through work - will be faced with the same sorts of financial considerations when making decisions about having more children. Families will no longer be able to claim additional support through Child Tax Credit (CTC) for third or subsequent children in a family where the child is born on or after 6 April 2017.
However, recognising that some parents or carers are not in the same position to make a choice, the Government has been clear that there would be exceptions for third and subsequent children for certain groups. This includes children who are in kinship care arrangements or born from non-consensual sex.