Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Deferred
Paragraph: 19
The Department is currently exceeding its expected proportion of claimants in receipt of childcare support,...
Recommendation
The Department is currently exceeding its expected proportion of claimants in receipt of childcare support, but it admits that some low-income parents still have difficulty accessing appropriate childcare, for reasons both within and outside its direct control. We recommend the Department commits to producing a quarterly statistical update on the proportion of eligible claimants on UC childcare, and that it commissions research into why take-up is not higher and how it could be improved.
Government Response Summary
The Department is reviewing the considerations as to the usefulness of more regular publications of UC childcare data and will keep the committee informed on this decision. Research on 'why take-up isn't higher' has been concluded but is still being quality assured.
Paragraph Reference:
19
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Department is committed to monitoring the uptake of the UC childcare offer and aims to build on the previous statistical ad hoc publication published in June 2022. Currently, the Department releases statistical data on a regular basis if there is value in publishing data more frequently and should be determined by its usefulness to users. Following the Budget announcements, we are reviewing these considerations as to the usefulness of more regular publications. We will be happy to keep the committee informed on this decision. The Department is committed to gathering evidence and insight to inform how best to support low-income parents move into employment. In 2021 we commissioned some research on ‘why take-up isn’t higher’. This research has now been concluded but is still being quality assured. As we have said previously in the response to the Committee on 29 June 2022, the research was only intended to support policy development.