Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of 30 hours free childcare on (a) Job Centre operations and (b) levels of returns to employment.

The Department for Education 30 hours free childcare is one of several government childcare offers, including the Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit childcare.

DWP has not made an assessment of the impact of the Department for Education’s 30 hours free childcare on job centre operations or returns to employment. In March 2023, when the government announced the extension of 30 hours of free childcare for working age parents of nine-month to two-year-olds, the OBR assessed as a result they would expect around 60,000 parents of young children to enter employment by 2027/28.

Economic and fiscal outlook - March 2023