Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126730, what the total cost to the Exchequer is of the tax-free childcare scheme not including the cost of 30 hours free childcare.

The Childcare Service is an integrated digital service through which parents can apply for Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare in a single application. As the costs of one application can be associated with both policies, there is not a clear distinction between the operating costs of each.

The HMRC contribution to the operating costs of the childcare service are estimated to be around £30million in 2018/2019 and £42million in 2019/2020. These may be revised in light of actual workloads.