Please Sign my petition to allow Granparents to be paid Childcare Vouchers!

neneromanova

"Grandparents should be intitled to get childcare tax credits to look after their grandchildren, because it puts a lot of people off returning to work after having a baby because they do not want strangers to look after their child. I think that it would encourage a lot of people in to work and cost the government less money then paying the childcare providers, some grandparents would love to look after their grandchildren."

Please Sign this petition if you believe that this should be done. I have nothing against Child minders, but I would just feel a lot safer if she was with someone I knew and trusted.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/PayGrandparents/

there is also a Facebook group if you would like to join that too...

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=230904430104

notlongnow_2

Can your grandparents not register as childminders to care for your children? This way they would be entitled to the vouchers as they would be seen as a 'safe' registered place of care?..just wondered.

brians_daughter

If you registered as a childminder you can get the vouchers. ofstead have lots of info and your local council should run free courses to prepare you for becoming a registered childminder

neneromanova

Yes they can register as Childminders...but they cannot receive The credits are not available to give to Family members, only non family members.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7960977.stm

[Deleted User]

I am not stating I agree/disagree with this petition.

I am assuming that this will be to discourage people from paying the family member the vouchers and then the family member giving the money back

Additionally, you can claim help towards the childcare costs via tax credits (although dependant on your household income) if you pay a relative to look after your children as long as they are registered with the relevant body (eg Ofsted, Care Commission), they do not look after the child in the child's own home and the provider cares for children who are not related to them. Accepting the unrelated children obviously shows that they do the job as their business and they are not just trying to get extra money from tax credits.

Macro_3

neneromanova wrote: »

Yes they can register as Childminders...but they cannot receive The credits are not available to give to Family members, only non family members.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7960977.stm

Tax credits can be paid if your child is cared for by a relative who is a childminder, so long as the relative does not just care solely for your children - ie they are genuinely a childminder by trade.

I won't be signing the petition as I believe that that's fair enough. In my opinion, any further relaxation of the already generous rules would be an abuse of the system.

brians_daughter

neneromanova wrote: »

Yes they can register as Childminders...but they cannot receive The credits are not available to give to Family members, only non family members.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7960977.stm

Interesting - i have recently completed pre- course training with my local council (decided not to pursue childminding tho!) and it was implied grand parents COULD register and get tc for grandchildren. infact one of the women there was there for that sole reason

the article you have posted (as far as i can see) doesn't mention the granny being ofsted registered .. i have a feeling if granny was a registered child minder it is a different kettle of fish. I will dig out my course materials and find out later

Also,and i say this as a mother of 2 young children, I think that by giving unregistered childminders ie Grandparents the tc will be unfair.

I have a friend whos mother is dead but her sister has her kids -for free, whilst my friend goes to work- now if tc was payable to grannies what about the ppl whos parents have passed away/ are unfit to care for grandchildren.. will you want this then to be extended to ALL family members, or even close friends who also have kids - if i could get paid as an un registered childminder and my friend could claim tc for it I could consider not returning to work and having her little man for her??

Good idea in principal but cant see it working in practice for many reason.

CIS

the article you have posted (as far as i can see) doesn't mention the granny being ofsted registered .. i have a feeling if granny was a registered child minder it is a different kettle of fish. I will dig out my course materials and find out later

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/TCTM02630.htm

The Tax Credit Technical manual gives the rules regarding the Childcare Tax Credit.

Childcare charges do not include charges in respect of care provided by a relative wholly or mainly in the child’s home.

DaisyFlower

Paying grandparents would be wide open to abuse, lots of people would claim it and simply either not pass it on or only part of it.

Not everyone works so many would not face loss of wages in order to look after grandchildren.

real1314

DaisyFlower wrote: »

Paying grandparents would be wide open to abuse, lots of people would claim it and somply either not pass it on or only part of it.

Not everyone works so many would not face loss of wages in order to look after grandchildren.

Or, they could just claim that they pay granny and she would simply hand them the money straight back. This would of course only be open to wealthier grandparents where they would not have to worry about the impact on any benefits.

I'm fairly sure that some people will already have a "child-minding swap set up" - work 3 days, pay childcare for 3 days to your mate, whilst your mate works 3 days and pays childcare to you for 3 days.

There's nothing to stop grannies being paid by their children for looking after the grandkids - just to stop the parents from getting a tax break from that payment.

astonsmummy

CIS wrote: »

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/TCTM02630.htm

The Tax Credit Technical manual gives the rules regarding the Childcare Tax Credit.

Childcare charges do not include charges in respect of care provided by a relative wholly or mainly in the child’s home.

I take that to mean they can qualify if they are caring for the child in their own home (the grandparents home)