Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Rejected
The range of childcare support schemes available to parents is complex, and they need access...
Recommendation
The range of childcare support schemes available to parents is complex, and they need access to good quality, timely information to make the best decisions about 48 Universal Credit and childcare costs their finances. We recommend the Department for Work and Pensions develop a single portal for childcare on the current Childcare Choices model: crucially, this must include information and calculations on payments for Universal Credit childcare claimants that is integrated with advice on other programmes. (Paragraph 77) Childcare Industry
Government Response Summary
The Department does not agree with the Committee that developing specific calculations on payments for UC childcare would be beneficial for claimants and feel that it could be misleading.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The campaign to raise awareness of the cross-government childcare offers continues to drive positive engagement with parents who could benefit from more support. We will undertake a full evaluation at the end of this campaign period. There is also a wide variety of information that covers all the Government childcare offers on the Childcare Choice website. This is a valuable tool for parents and acts as a platform to additional information. The UC section provides the link to an ‘independent benefits calculator’ that helps a claimant identify what they could be entitled to. There is also access via a link to the Gov.uk website that provides full information on the UC childcare offer. The Department does not agree with the Committee that developing specific calculations on payments for UC childcare would be beneficial for claimants and feel that it could be misleading as there are several variables involved within the UC calculation, with childcare costs often fluctuating from month to month. We encourage frequent conversation with the claimant’s Work Coach or Case Manager either in person or raised via their journal.