§ Caroline FlintTo ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, in what ways the Commission plans to assist668W access for children of staff, hon. Members and hon. Members' staff to daycare facilities. [10287]
§ Mr. KirkwoodThe Commission already provides child care vouchers for staff of the House with small children. The vouchers are very flexible, and can be exchanged for various forms of daycare, including nursery places and care by nannies, childminders or certain relatives.
For school aged children the House also ran a subsidised holiday playscheme for children of hon. Members and hon. Members' staff and staff of the House for six weeks in the summer. The Board of Management will be considering whether to extend the scheme for the future. Staff of the House are also eligible to use Westminster Playscheme run by the civil service.
There is no specific responsibility on the Commission to provide facilities for children of Members and their staff, but Members can use their allowances to purchase vouchers or daycare facilities for their staff. The Department of Finance and Administration publishes information about finding child care facilities in the Westminster area on the intranet.