Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what metrics his Department plans to use to measure the effects of tax-free childcare on attainment in early years’ education.

Damian Hinds

Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are developing plans to measure the success of Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) once it is in ‘steady state’ following the full rollout of the scheme.

We will measure how well TFC performs against its policy objective to help working families with their childcare costs. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as we start to put in place these plans.

The key programmes for early education are the 15 hours of free childcare offered to all 3 and 4-year olds, and eligible 2-year olds. These provisions are measured under Assessment and Reporting Arrangements set out by the Standards and Testing Agency to ensure attainment against the Early Years Framework.