“Clear answers” needed from Sunak on childcare policy, says Labour

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The Labor Party has called for ‘clear answers’ on Rishi Sunak’s involvement in devising childcare policy after the Treasury revealed officials met with a company partly owned by the prime minister’s wife around the time prior to the March budget.

Helen Hayes, the opposition party’s shadow daughter and early childhood minister, said it would “raise eyebrows” that Treasury officials met ahead of the budget with a company that the prime minister has personally benefited from.

The Treasury revealed in response to a freedom of information request from the Financial Times that its officials met with a Koru Kids representativean agency representing carers, on February 22 of this year.

The company was subsequently one of only six placed on a list of child care agencies approved by the Treasury on March 15 as part of a budget announcement intended to increase the number of registered child caregivers.

The deal has caused controversy because carers who register with the agencies receive a £1,200 incentive fee from the government. Those who register directly with Ofsted, the government’s education watchdog, receive a £600 payment.

After the budget, the Labor Party questioned the rationale for the added incentive to register through private companies. There was further controversy after Sunak failed to bid during interrogation told the House of Commons Liaison Committee in March that his wife, Akshata Murthy, was a shareholder in Koru Kids.

Asked by the committee whether he had an interest in declaring the matter, Sunak replied: “No. All my revelations are declared in the normal way.

Hayes told the Financial Times: “The fact that the Treasury met with a firm from which the prime minister personally benefits financially ahead of the spring budget will raise eyebrows.”

Parliament’s standards commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, announced in April that he was investigating Sunak under a paragraph of parliament’s rules relating to non-disclosure of a material interest. MPs are obliged to mention the relevant interests of themselves or close family members when debating them in parliament.

There has also been criticism that the government took too little time to consider the plans before announcing them.

“The public deserves clear answers from government about how involved the prime minister has been in his government’s rushed plans for children,” Hayes said.

Treasury officials also met with Tiney, one of the other companies on the roster of six, on February 23 of this year, as well as on February 24, 2022.

There is no suggestion that Treasury officials knew of Murthy’s stake in Koru Kids when they met with the company.

It was “entirely normal” for Treasury officials to involve “a broad range of stakeholders, across a range of sectors,” ahead of any budget, the government said.

The government added that it was focused on increasing the number of carers available so parents across the country had more “choice, affordability and availability”.

He said the higher payment for those using child welfare agencies reflects the higher costs of that route.

“This ensures that both pathways are incentivized fairly,” he added.

Downing Street, meanwhile, reiterated on Friday its insistence that the prime minister had fulfilled his obligations by declaring his interest on the ministerial register of interests.

“All of the prime minister’s interests have been declared in accordance with the process set out in the ministerial code,” he said.