Major themes in the Budget were getting people to enter work, increasing their working hours and extending their working lives. These include numerous proposals detailed below.
Working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, for 38 weeks of the year, from when their child is nine months old to when they start school.
This will be rolled out in stages:
Where parents need childcare for more than 38 weeks a year, they are able to spread their free hour’s entitlement over a higher number of weeks.
The government will substantially uplift the hourly rate paid to providers that deliver the existing free hours. It will also change the staff-to-child ratios for two-year-olds, moving from 1:4 to 1:5, and provide start-up grants for new childminders, including for those who choose to register with a childminder agency. Childminders who register with Ofsted will receive a start-up grant of £600, whereas those who register with a childminder agency will receive £1,200.
In addition, parents on Universal Credit childcare support will receive payment upfront when they are moving into work or increasing their hours, rather than in arrears. Also, the Universal Credit childcare cap will increase to £951 for one child (up from £646) and £1,630 for two children (up from £1,108).
Changes include:
The government is introducing measures to further help those who are not working due to long-term sickness but want to, with a focus on cardiovascular disease, mental health, and musculoskeletal conditions as the leading causes.
Older workers will be supported to work for longer and to return to work via changes to the pension rules, access to an enhanced digital midlife MOT, and an expansion of the Jobcentre Plus midlife MOT offer, which provides in-person financial planning and awareness sessions for Universal Credit claimants aged over 50.
If you would like to discuss how this will affect you, please contact us by calling 0115 928 3228 or by emailing info@coalesco.co.uk.
