Please sign petition to save childcare vouchers

[snaw]

I think without these my missus might have had to seriously reconsider going back to work, as her margins after paying close to £2000 a month in nursery fees weren't great ... and we'd be considered well off, not sure what it worked out at but for two ids it helped.

*******, the lot of them. Who does this help exactly?

[Lumiere]

Noticed that this just popped into my inbox

[url]And third, we are not actually abolishing the childcare vouchers. What will be happening is the Treasury will be phasing out the tax and national insurance relief employees receive for childcare vouchers

So what is left then, a privilege to name a part of the salary as "childcare vouchers" ?

[tenpin]

Childcare vouchers - gov response

Noticed that this just popped into my inbox

http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page21036

This e-petition does not close until 29 September 2010. However, this issue was raised when the Prime Minister took part in a question and answer session with members of Mumsnet on 16 October, and we thought that as a signatory to this petition, this would be of interest. A full reply will be published when the e-petition closes.

The Prime Minister said:

“I can see that Childcare Vouchers are a big concern to many of you, so let me take this opportunity to clear a few things up.

Firstly, no one who is currently using the scheme will be affected in the next 5 years, so please don’t worry about any sudden changes. We are phasing in the changes so that families who currently benefit don’t lose out in the next Parliament.

Second, low and middle-income working parents will be able to benefit from childcare support through tax credits that are worth on average £68 per week for 470,000 families - much more generous than tax relief on vouchers.

And third, we are not actually abolishing the childcare vouchers. What will be happening is the Treasury will be phasing out the tax and national insurance relief employees receive for childcare vouchers, but companies will still be able to offer childcare vouchers to the people they employ and in fact, we expect many of them will continue to provide support for childcare.

We are making these changes because we feel that the tax relief is currently badly targeted. Around a third of the benefit for ESC* goes to the 6% of parents who pay tax at the higher rate. But more importantly, we want to use the money to extend free nursery places to many thousands more 2 year olds**. These nursery places are really popular with parents and they give children the very best start in life - helping to achieve a fairer society in which everyone can thrive.”

* Employer supported childcare

** 250,000 places by the end of the next Parliament.

[TheFaQQer]

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

How many here actually use them? I started 2 weeks ago......

I don't because my children go to school / state nursery and MrsF works from home and looks after them.

Signed it anyway, though, as another good tax perk for the rich sounds like a good policy.

[SantaClaus]

Signed!

[Platypus]

Petition signed, never know when we might need them...

oh please

[moorfield]

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

How many here actually use them? I started 2 weeks ago......

I do.

Think I've spent about 3-4k in nursery fees over the last 2 yrs or so which has all been extracted out of ltdco tax free using the vouchers. Very handy.

[Churchill]

Petition signed, never know when we might need them...

[Andy2]

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

How many here actually use them? I started 2 weeks ago......

Isn't this subject to your income level or anybody can get them

[Platypus]

Aren't child care vouchers just another welfare state bribe, in many cases taken up by those who can afford to pay anyway?

[BrilloPad]

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

How many here actually use them? I started 2 weeks ago......