Bid to save £900 Childcare Vouchers for local families

12.00.00am GMT Tue 10th Nov 2009

A bid to stop the Labour Government from removing tax exemption for Childcare Vouchers worth around £900 a year to Weston families has been backed by a local campaigner.

Childcare vouchers help more than 340,000 working parents across the country save between £900 and £1,200 a year in the cost of nursery places - including hundreds of families in Weston-super-Mare.

Mike Bell, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Weston-super-Mare, is backing the campaign to persuade the Government to reverse its decision.

He said: "This cut will hit middle income families in Weston and the villages hard. A couple paying basic rate tax can currently save £900 each towards their childcare costs, but will now see a 20% rise in those costs in the middle of this recession.

"The vouchers are also a key source of income for the nurseries and childminders that are vital to our community."

Childcare Vouchers have been exempt from income tax since 2005. Labour Ministers have claimed that abolishing this exemption will prevent those on high incomes benefiting and plan to use the money to fund 250,000 childcare places for low income families.

The campaign to save Childcare Vouchers is backed by the Federation of Small Businesses as many local business rely on the vouchers to enable vital employees to continue to work without costing the business money they can't afford.

Many parents, employers and child carers are lending their voices to the campaign to save Childcare Vouchers by signing a petition on the Downing Street website calling on the government to reverse its decision. It has been supported by over 78,000 signatories at the last count. The petition can be found at: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/keepvouchers/