AQW 50027/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 30/06/2026
Answered On Date: 08/07/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail any plans in place to extend early years childcare support to younger children, to support parental employment and progression.

Answer:

Financial assistance to support parental employment and progression is available through the Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme (NICSS). The Scheme provides a 15% saving on eligible childcare costs, with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme offering an additional 20% reduction. The scheme is open to eligible working parents. with children from birth up until 1st September after their 11th birthday.

In the draft Executive Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Strategy, I set out a clear intention to increase the support provided through the NICSS to a 20% subsidy from April 2026 as part of a phased approach to improving affordability. However, at this stage an Executive Budget has not yet been agreed, and the proposed draft Budget as it stands does not provide sufficient ELC funding to progress all actions within the draft Strategy.

In addition, while I am clear that pre-school education provision for target age children in the year before starting primary school is not childcare, the time spent in a funded pre-school place has an impact on the childcare needs of working families. I am therefore, committed to continue to transition funded pre-school education places to universal full-time provision (22.5 hrs per week), over time for all target age children as part of the Executive Early Learning and Childcare Strategy.