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By Rachel Lawler 

 

Shadow minister for the early years Tracy Brabin has responded to HMRC’s comments on the website, stating that the government is "clearly failing" working parents.

 

to Treasury Select Committee chair Nicky Morgan, who had requested information on the website’s performance. Since its launch, the Childcare Service website has experienced a number of technical issues, with both parents and providers reporting difficulty accessing the 30 hour offer and tax-free childcare.

 

HMRC’s chief executive John Thompson apologised for the problems and said that efforts to improve the service were on-going. However, he also revealed that 2,600 parents are still unable to process their applications following technical difficulties and that the website had been down for more than 160 hours since its launch in April.

 

Brabin said: “Ministers should have taken their responsibility to deliver an application system that works much more seriously. This policy is supposed to be implemented in just over a week and yet thousands of parents’ claims are still stuck on waiting lists because of a ‘technical issue’.” She added: “Parents and providers urgently need assurances that the scheme will be able to cope.”