Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what childcare facilities his Department makes available for staff; how much his Department spent (a) overall and (b) per child on those childcare facilities in the last year; and how many staff members use those childcare facilities.

The Department organises the Westminster Holiday Play Scheme. This is a childcare facility that takes place during school holidays. It is open to children from the age of 4 years and 9 months up to 15 years’ old. It is run on behalf of a consortium of departments through a contract led and administered by BEIS. It currently operates at 4 London locations. There is a cost of £35 per day per child. The Department meets £18 of this cost for its members of staff with parents/guardians paying the remaining £17.

Between September 2016 and August 2017 (inclusive) BEIS spent £10,244 on the play scheme. The Department does not have details on the number of individual staff members who made use of the scheme or on the amounts spent per child.