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1453565

registered interest
date	23/03/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the cap for the childcare element of universal credit reflects rising costs of childcare.
tabling member constituency	Oxford East
tabling member printed	Anneliese Dodds
uin	145971
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2022 answer text <p>We know that for some UC claimants’, the cost of childcare makes it more difficult to enter work. To support parents to start work, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month regardless of the number of hours they work. This is higher than under tax credits, which reimbursed up to 70%.</p><p> </p><p>This is up to the maximum amount of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. For families with two children, this could be worth up to £13,000 a year. Currently we do not have any plans to increase the childcare caps but continue to keep the policy under review.</p><p> </p><p>In cases where people need to pay for childcare upfront, prior to starting work, Work Coaches can use the Flexible Support Fund for eligible claimants to meet these costs until their first wage is received.</p><p> </p><p>The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer in England and there are similar funded early learning offers in devolved nations. The free childcare offer provides 15 hours a week of free childcare in England for all 3 and 4 year olds and disadvantaged 2 year olds, doubling for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours a week.</p><p> </p><p>The UC childcare element can be used to top up a claimant’s eligible free childcare hours if more hours are worked and childcare required.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 04/04/2022 15:23:28 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds

1453567

registered interest
date	23/03/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Flexible Support Fund: Parents
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Work Coaches are routinely offering Flexible Support Fund payments to help parents who may face challenges in meeting all or part of the upfront costs of their childcare.
tabling member constituency	Oxford East
tabling member printed	Anneliese Dodds
uin	145972
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2022 answer text <p>The Department is fully committed to supporting parents moving into work. In Universal Credit, childcare costs can be claimed up to a month before starting a job. Eligible Universal Credit claimants can claim back up to 85 per cent of eligible childcare costs each month, up to the maximum amount of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children, regardless of the number of hours they work.</p><p> </p><p>In cases where people need to pay for childcare upfront, prior to starting work, Work Coaches may be able to use the Flexible Support Fund for eligible claimants to meet these costs until their first wage is received. Budgeting advances are also available to eligible claimants who require help with upfront costs, for example when altering hours worked or changing childcare providers.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/04/2022 13:36:39 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds

1453570

registered interest
date	23/03/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Flexible Support Fund: Lone Parents
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Flexible Support Fund payments are offered to single parents for the purposes of enabling them to meet the new job-seeking requirements in the Way to Work campaign.
tabling member constituency	Oxford East
tabling member printed	Anneliese Dodds
uin	145973
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2022 answer text <p>Way to Work is a campaign to move job-ready claimants into work faster and fill vacancies more quickly. We are supporting jobseekers by providing new claimants with more time with their Work Coaches. Individual circumstances, such as childcare arrangements, are always taken into account and agreed with the claimants as part of the Claimant Commitment meeting. At that stage, Work Coaches will agree with the claimant what they are able to do with respect to finding and having a job as well as discussing eligibility for support through the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) and how this might suit their circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>The FSF is a non-recoverable discretionary fund that Jobcentre staff can use to purchase goods or services to supplement mainstream services and tailor support to the needs of individuals and the local area. Work Coaches have flexibility and discretion to make awards that will enhance the employment prospects of eligible claimants with whom they are engaged. A key element of Flexible Support Fund is giving Work Coaches a means by which they can support claimants move into work, such as paying for upfront childcare costs, travel costs to interviews and for clothing, tools and equipment needed to start work.</p><p> </p><p>No changes to the FSF or the policy around have been made as a result of the Way to Work Campaign.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/04/2022 13:41:26 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds