§ Ms Julie MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what financial assistance is available for child care for parents in(a) training and (b) full-time education; and what plans he has to make more such resources available. [140356]
§ Ms Hodge[holding answer 27 November 2000]: Child care support for parents in learning is a key component of Government action to increase participation in education and training. Those in training in Great Britain are primarily assisted by the New Deal programme, including the New Deal for Lone Parents, and through Career Development Loans. Where trainees receive a wage, they are eligible, under the normal rules, for Working Families Tax Credit. Students in full-time further education may also be assisted by these two schemes and through the Access Funds and the Childcare Support Fund (England only). For students in higher education, this year we have introduced a Mature Students Bursary, paid through universities' and colleges' Access Funds, of up to £1,000 a year, which is intended for the additional costs such as child care or travel that mature students incur. Students with children are also eligible for age-related child dependants grants and for the institutions' Hardship Funds which provide sources of funding for child care costs.
Expenditure for 2001–2002 on the schemes of support for those in training and in further education will be announced shortly. For higher education we plan to introduce next year a new child care grant for full-time students with dependent children. The grant, paid as a 805W statutory entitlement, will be based on actual costs of £100 a week for one child in registered or accredited child care, with a higher costs ceiling for more than one child.