HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Childcare is a right, not a privilege says Paymaster General [January 1999]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 13 January 1999.
Decent childcare at an affordable price for those families who wish to work should be a right, not a privilege, said the new Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo today, as she outlined the Government’s balanced approach to helping families in home and at work.
The Paymaster was discussing the childcare tax credit – part of the new Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) and Disabled Person’s Tax Credit (DPTC) – which will help with childcare Costs for children up to ages of 15 and 16.
“The WFTC is very good news for about one and a quarter million families on low to middle incomes who are likely to qualify for it. A major obstacle faced by many parents with young children who want to return to work – whether they are lone parents or a couple – is the cost of childcare. A radical new feature of the WFTC – the childcare tax credit – is designed to help remove this obstacle. Choosing to stay at home with children is of course a right that many parents enjoy, and those with a working partner can also get support with WFTC.
“The childcare tax credit will also help families with older children. In line with our National Childcare Strategy, parents will be able to get help with childcare costs up to the September following the child’s 15th birthday. For disabled children the childcare tax credit can be claimed until the child’s 16th birthday.
“The childcare tax credit is more generous than the childcare disregard in Family Credit, which the childcare tax credit replaces – it means that working parents will be able to get up to 105 Pounds per week towards their childcare costs. And, unlike the disregard, it will benefit working families across a wide range of incomes, including those on the lowest incomes.
“Of course we have also to make sure that the help that we give supports our commitment in the National Childcare Strategy to promoting quality childcare. The current benefit rules for eligible childcare – upon which we are building – already enable families to use registered childminders and registered nurseries. But the world has moved on and we recognise that childcare like this may not appropriately fill the needs of all the children of working families who can receive tax credits.
“So the Government is looking at all the types of childcare provided currently, their quality assurance and whether the types of eligible childcare for the childcare tax credit could be extended. We are looking particularly at care provided for children between 11 and 14 – who are beyond the age covered by most of the current regulatory arrangements – and at care provided for disabled children where there may be special care needs.”
