Yesterday (15^th March) The Chancellor delivered the UK Government’s Spring budget, chock full of headline figures, forecasts and tax and spending plans. Among the many announcements and forecasts, such as the UK avoiding a technical recession and inflation more than halving by the end of the year, there were some key points that all HR professionals need to be aware of.

Free childcare funding to be increased

Free childcare for working parents will be expanded in stages over the next few years, with the aim of getting more parents in to work and to work longer hours. This expansion will occur in stages until September 2025.

• Stage 1, April 2024: 2-year-old children will get 15 hours a week of free childcare.
• Stage 2, September 2024: Children between 9 months and 2 years will get 15 hours of free childcare a week.
• Stage 3, September 2025: All eligible children under 5 years old will be allocated 30 hours of free childcare per week.

Moreover, the Government’s funding per child will be increased, with the view of putting nurseries on a better financial footing, reducing requests for ‘top-up payments’ from parents and making more free places available at nurseries.

Under current arrangements:

• All 3 and 4-year-old children in England are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week during term time.
• Children of some eligible working parents are entitled to 30 free hours per week, however, both parents must earn at least £152 per week on average to qualify.
• 2-year-olds can get 15 hours of free childcare under certain circumstances, for example if the family receives universal credit.

Wraparound care for school children to be expanded

Funding for ‘wraparound care’ for school-age children will be increased, so that all parents of school-age children will be able to drop their children off at school from 8am and pick them up until 6pm by September 2026.

New ‘returnership’ apprenticeships

A new apprenticeship scheme aimed at getting the over 50s to return to the workplace or retrain for new careers will be introduced. Dubbed ‘returnerships’, the Government says that they will focus on flexibility and candidates previous experience in order to reduce training length.

The Government is yet to reveal the specifics of the plan and how these returnerships will work in practice for employers, but we will be sure to provide updates through our website, social media and newsletter when more information is available.

New support to get disabled and sick people in to work

Funding will be made available to tackle the biggest health issues that cause people to leave the workforce, such as mental health and musculoskeletal issues. Moreover, a new voluntary employment scheme dubbed ‘Universal Support’ will be launched to help disabled people find work.

The Government will also abolish the work capability assessment for disabled people and benefit entitlement will be separated from an individual’s ability to work, with the view of allowing disabled people to look for work without fear of losing their benefits.

Occupational Health subsidies

Funding for an existing pilot scheme looking into providing subsidies to smaller businesses to offer occupational health services to their employees will be doubled, and the Government will bring forward two consultations on how to increase Occupational Health provision.

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