Child Care Vouchers

Mr. Laws
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies were participating in the childcare voucher scheme at the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr. Timms
The most recent published research, commissioned by HM Revenue and Customs in 2006, by the National Centre for Social Research estimated that there were 9,600 organisations providing child care vouchers in late 2005. The report is available at

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/research-report23.htm.