A consultation document, New Tax Credits - Supporting Families, Making Work Pay and Tackling Poverty, states that the Government is 'considering how to help families who need to use formal childcare in their own homes'. An Inland Revenue spokeswoman said, 'This section of the document is concerned with someone with a disabled child who needs childcare in the home. While it could mean a registered childminder coming into the home to look after the child and enable the person to go out to work, nannies caring for the child may also be considered.
'We would welcome representation from the appropriate agencies regarding this matter.'
The consultation ends in three weeks' time on 12 October. It is seeking comments from early years providers about how a new integrated child credit, to be part of an employment tax credit, should work to help families on low incomes pay for childcare.
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said she supported the concept but the system needed to be 'fine-tuned to remove anomalies'. She added, 'We have been dissatisfied with how the childcare tax credit has been handled and how it has left providers with empty places. We would like to see the money go direct to the providers instead of the parents.'
Gill Haynes, chief executive of the National Childminding Association, added, 'We know of childminders who have lost money because they kept places for the children of recipients of the tax credit who never turned up.'
The consultation document is on the Inland Revenue website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk.
