HC Deb 16 January 2003 vol 397 cc790-1W
Sir Archy Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) who will conduct the review into the childcare tax credit; what the review's terms of reference are; whether the results of the review will(a) be published and (b) be made available in the Library; and if she will make a statement; [90770]

(2) whether the review into the childcare tax credit will (a) look at extending the scope of the credit and (b) examine regional and national differences in the take-up of childcare tax credit; [90771]

(3) if she will make a statement on the difficulties involved in making an estimate of the number of parents eligible but not claiming the childcare tax credit. [90772]

Dawn Primarolo

I have been asked to reply.

As announced in the joint report released by DTI and Treasury on 14 January, "Balancing Work and Family Life: Enhancing Choice and Support for Parents" the Government are committed to keeping under review how well support for child care costs within tax credits is working, in particular, the effect that the increased flexibility has on the ability of parents to adjust their child care requirements to suit their needs. Clearly the new system will need to be in place for a period of time before consideration can be made of the effects of the new more flexible system.

In order to qualify for childcare tax credit, parents have to satisfy two requirements. Firstly they must qualify for WFTC working more than 16 hours per week with a family income below the eligible maximum. Secondly they have to be using registered child care and if you have a partner he or she must also be working more than 16 hours. Because of the difficulties in identifying the people meeting these criteria and the constantly changing profile of recipients, it is difficult to estimate the number of parents eligible but not claiming the childcare tax credit.