Growing numbers of nursery providers claim that working tax credits are having a negative impact on their businesses and are failing to help the parents and children they are designed for.
Since they were introduced in 2003, credits have been dogged by poor administration, complex systems, poor explanatory information, long delays in resolving problems and high levels of overpayment and recovery.
Despite some recent administrative improvements, many claimants still experience great difficulty in accessing tax credits and many who would benefit from them most are now deterred by the possibility of having to pay large sums of money back.
On the supply side, the experience has been equally fraught. Some nurseries have run into thousands of pounds' worth of debt because parents have hit problems of overpayment or failed to pass their contributions on.
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