FSB Wales spokesman Russell Lawson said that firms are reluctant tooffer the tax and national insurance saving because they do not havehuman resources departments to operate it.
Nicola James, who runs the Stepping Stones creche in Aberdare in SouthWales, said, 'People who work for larger companies can get thesevouchers and I think they should be available for more parents. I knowthat it is a lot of work to set the system up, because I looked at it,as I run a business myself.' She has just two parents using vouchers;one works for British Gas and the other for a water company.
Lucy Bosher, information manager at the Daycare Trust, outlined onesolution to the problem. She said, 'What many employers don't realise isthat directly-contracted childcare attracts exactly the same tax andNational Insurance relief (55 per week or 243 per month)as vouchers, and it can be much simpler for a smaller employer.
'Directly-contracted childcare is very simple. It means that theemployer agrees to pay the employee's childcare setting, which must beregistered or approved, a set amount every month. This requires nocomplex form-filling, simply a contract or letter of agreement signedand agreed by the employer and childcare setting. Then the employerclaims the relief at the end of the tax year.'
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day NurseriesAssociation, said, 'Some nurseries do report issues with the variety ofadministration systems that exist between voucher companies. Forexample, some use online or telephone redemption methods, others use thechild's name as a payment reference, while some use a reference number,which can make it hard for a setting to see who has paid. This meansthat the administration time can quickly add up for nurseries. The NDNAbelieves it is important that voucher providers look to create a uniformadministration system, so that vouchers can be a benefit for allinvolved.'
- A factsheet on directly-contracted childcare support is available onthe Daycare Trust website at www.daycaretrust.org.uk/mod/fileman/files/Directly-contracted_childcare_07.pdf.