Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department provides to parents on Universal Credit on using the Flexible Support Fund to cover upfront childcare costs.

The Flexible Support Fund can be used to pay 100% of the upfront costs of up to one month of childcare. This is designed to ensure that any costs that the Universal Credit customer incurs in relation to childcare when starting work or increasing their hours is not a barrier to taking up this work.

The Government website ‘Childcare Choices’ is a key source of childcare information for parents. It advises that UC customers might be eligible for upfront childcare costs, and to speak to their work coach. We also issue guidance to Jobcentre Plus work coaches on the eligibility and awarding criteria for the Flexible Support Fund and upfront childcare costs.

Customers who have received an upfront childcare award can make a Universal Credit childcare claim for up to 85% of their childcare costs thereafter. The Universal Credit childcare claim is paid to the customer through their UC award, which they can use to pay for the next month's costs, thereby easing UC customers into the UC childcare costs payment cycle.