home resources childcare vouchers

Search the site

Childcare Vouchers for Members' Staff

Added: 18 March 2004
Revised 31 August 2005

Update 31 August 2005:  We have updated this page in conjunction with the Department of Finance and Administration but you need to look at their website on the Intranet for the latest information.

If you have a child or children under 12, and you have to pay for their childcare while you are at work, you may be eligible to claim childcare vouchers. The House authorities have decided to extend the House of Commons childcare voucher scheme to cover Members' staff who are paid from the staffing allowance and who are employed for one month or more. The vouchers will be paid for from central funds.

Vouchers are worth £8 per child per day, and can be used to help pay for most legally-recognised forms of childcare. If your child has passed their 5th birthday but is not yet 12 you can claim vouchers for school holiday periods only.  The system works as follows:

• You must register with the Department of Finance and Administration. Your Member must endorse your registration - and each quarterly application.

• Your childcare provider registers with ACCOR Services who provide the vouchers.

• You apply each quarter, telling us how many vouchers you require

• We send you the required vouchers together with a yellow information pack

• Pass the carer's pack (from within the yellow information pack) to your childcare provider so that they can register with ACCOR services

• You pass the vouchers to your childcare provider, who returns them to ACCOR services and redeems them.

If you think you may be eligible:

• View the rules of the scheme on the Parliamentary Intranet, or e-mail crawleyn@parliament.uk for a copy. Forms are available from the Parliamentary Intranet.

• Complete the registration form and an application form for the first quarter. Send these to the Childcare Vouchers Section at the address given on the form.  

Contact details:
For rules of the scheme, e-mail crawleyn@parliament.uk 
If you need further information: Neil Crawley 0207 219 5973.

The above information is dated 31 August 2005 from the Commons Department of Finance and Administration.  In addition to the information provided, we note that there is a useful Q and A page about Childcare Vouchers on the Intranet.

You can also

• Look at our other guides

Site map | About this site | Help | Contact Us | Copyright | Terms of Use | Feedback

© 2004-8 Working for an MP