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<p>The Government clearly recognises that high childcare costs can affect parents’
decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours which is why the changes
to the UC childcare element announced in the Spring Budget 2023 will provide generous
additional financial support to parents moving into work and/or increasing their working
hours.</p><p> </p><p>The Department will address the issue of ‘upfront’ childcare
costs by exempting any Flexible Support Fund (FSF) payment for upfront childcare costs
made to childcare providers from the UC childcare cost calculation when parents move
into work or significantly increase their working hours. In practice, this means that
the parent will be reimbursed for up to 85% of that FSF payment, as if they had paid
it themselves. This provides parents with a significant payment of childcare costs,
upfront, to use for their next set of childcare costs, thereby easing UC claimants
into the UC childcare costs payment cycle.</p><p> </p><p>The Department will also
increase the generosity of the UC childcare costs ‘caps’ (maximum amounts) - Allowing
parents to claim back over £300 more for one child or over £500 for two or more children
of their childcare costs per month. This will increase the caps from £646.35 for one
child and £1,108.04 for two or more children to £950.92 and £1,630.15 respectively.</p><p>
</p><p>By September 2025, eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to when
they start school will be able to get 30 hours of free childcare in England.</p><p><strong>
</strong></p><p>As set out in the Spring Budget, and the health is everyone’s business
consultation response, increasing access to quality occupational health (OH) services
can support disabled people and people with health conditions to remain in and thrive
in work. This can contribute to reducing health-related inactivity.</p><p> </p><p>To
increase access to OH the government is delivering a range of actions including: proposals
to consult on tax incentives to encourage greater take-up of OH and new ways to boost
OH coverage; an expanded trial of a subsidy for SMEs and the Self Employed to purchase
OH services; a £1m fund to stimulate innovation in the OH market focussed on new models
of service delivery and better use of technology; and plans to develop the multidisciplinary
OH workforce needed to deliver services.</p>
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