What action it will take to continue to promote uptake of the UK childcare vouchers scheme by employers and employees.

Please refer to the information note on implementation of the Early Years Framework, which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 51402).
The Early Years Framework committed the Scottish Government to promoting childcare vouchers among employers in Scotland. From January to June 2009, the Scottish Government ran a project to promote greater use of childcare vouchers among Scottish employers in the public, private and voluntary sectors with the report now available on the Scottish Government website. This has successfully raised the profile of childcare vouchers through individual contacts and working with the Scottish Trades Union Congress.
More recently, the Scottish Government pressed the former UK administration to drop plans to make potentially damaging changes to the tax incentives for childcare vouchers. We will continue efforts with the UK Government to create a single, progressive and more accessible means of supporting childcare costs through tax credits and childcare vouchers. Responsibility for these are reserved to the UK Government.