The UK-wide inquiry will look at how suitable and affordable childcare can be provided for all parents who need it to enable them to work. The inquiry was announced just before Christmas, soon after the publication of Government figures that show that just under 140,000 families in England who are eligible for the Government's childcare tax credit are receiving it.
The Treasury figures, obtained by Labour MP Karen Buck, revealed that the total number of families in England receiving the childcare tax credit element of Working Families Tax Credit in May 2002 was only 138,836.
Ms Buck, who is also a member of the Work and Pensions select committee, said she was not surprised by the low figures. In the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, part of her constituency, she said, only between 150 and 180 households were receiving the childcare tax credit.
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