Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Oral contribution of the Minister of State for Education of 18 July 2017, Official Report, column 713, what discussions her Department has had with HM Revenue and Customs to resolve the issues identified with the digital childcare service; and what progress her Department has made on steps identified in those discussions to resolve those issues.

As of 31 August, over 216,000 30 hours eligibility codes have been issued for the Autumn term. Whilst the majority of parents applied with no issue, some parents experienced difficulties. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are working with National Savings & Investments (and their supplier Atos) to make a range of improvements to the childcare service. The department maintains continuous contact with HMRC and are involved in key discussions.

HMRC put in place arrangements to ensure parents were able to access a place in the Autumn term. For example, they provided 30 hours free childcare codes manually to all parents who reported experiencing difficulties applying through the digital route. The department then encouraged all local authorities to fund 30 hours places for the autumn term where the parent applied on 31 August or before, but received their code after the deadline.

We are committed to working with colleagues to ensure we continue to improve the customer experience as we deliver this important programme nationally.