Question follow-through · 61698

Universal Credit: Childcare

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to replace the provision of upfront childcare costs with Universal Credit with advance payments.

answeredDepartment for Work and Pensions

About this written question

A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.

Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Tabled
20 Jun 2025
Target answer date
24 Jun 2025
Answer
26 Jun 2025 · 6 calendar days after tabling

Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.

More questions by this MP on Education and skills

Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.

Recorded timeline

  1. 20 Jun 2025

    Question tabled

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to replace the provision of upfront childcare costs with Universal Credit with advance payments.

  2. 24 Jun 2025

    Target answer date

    Date supplied by the official written-questions record.

  3. 26 Jun 2025

    Answer published

    There are currently no plans to change the way upfront childcare costs are paid. Claimants of the Universal Credit childcare element can claim upfront childcare costs through the Flexible Support Fund, to help ease them into the Universal Credit childcare...

Open official record

Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.

Later records

Possible follow-up questions

Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Poverty: Children

30 Jun 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Budget Statement 2024, the Spring Statement 2025 and the Spending Review 2025, what forecast she has made of levels of child poverty during this Parliament.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Employment Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment

20 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what is the average processing time for Employment Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payments.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Work Capability Assessment

20 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many current cases are there where Work Capability Assessments have taken longer than the 13 weeks set out in departmental guidelines.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

State Retirement Pensions: Women

20 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report on changes to women's State Pension age, published on 21 March 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) economic;

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

State Retirement Pensions: Women

20 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will facilitate a vote on proposals for financial redress contained in the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report on changes to women's State Pension age, published on 21 March 2024.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Universal Credit: Young People

10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many young people aged 16-24 are claiming the Universal Credit health element while in full-time non-advanced education under Universal Credit rules.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Employment: Visual Impairment

8 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve employment rates among blind and visually impaired people.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Employment: Visual Impairment

8 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support available to employers recruiting and retaining blind and visually impaired employees.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme: Visual Impairment

8 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to review the Access to Work scheme to ensure that blind and visually impaired people can access workplace adjustments and specialist support in a timely manner.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Social Security Benefits and State Retirement Pensions: Postal Services

7 Jul 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what measures are in place to ensure that recipients of Universal Credit, State Pension and other DWP support are not financially disadvantaged by delayed postal communications, including in Stourbridge

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Department for Work and Pensions: Standards

7 Jul 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure current Royal Mail delays do not affect people's ability to comply with his Department's deadlines.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Social Security Benefits: Payments

7 Jul 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure current Royal Mail delays do not affect people's access to payments.