Using a relative for child care

An increasing number of relatives, particularly grandparents, are helping out with child care. In many cases, these relatives provide their time free of charge, but if a relative is also looking after other children and relying on the income, you may be paying them to take care of your child.

If this is the case, you could use the new UK child care voucher scheme to pay them. The voucher system enables you to sacrifice an element of your gross salary in exchange for vouchers which you can then use to pay your child care provider. If you are using a relative who already looks after other children, then you should check if they are registered. Strictly speaking, all people who look after other people's children and takes an income for doing so should be registered and inspected to ensure that they are providing good quality care. If they are not registered, then they will not be able to accept payment in child care vouchers.

Registering as a child care provider is fairly straightforward, and can be done through dedicated agencies, which differs depending on whether you are based in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. A list of these agencies is below:

England: Ofsted

Scotland: The Care Commission

Wales: The Care Standards Inspectorate

Northern Ireland: Local Health and Social Services Trusts

Once registered with the appropriate body, your relative will be able to accept child care vouchers, not just from you, but from their other clients as well. They will be able to redeem the vouchers immediately, meaning that they don't lose out on any fees by accepting the vouchers. There is no additional cost to your relative in accepting child care vouchers.

If you have a relative who is looking after your child or children and does not look after any other children, you will not be able to use child care vouchers for this care.

At Fennies, we administer UK child care voucher schemes, and we can give advice on who benefits from the vouchers and who can receive them.

please call us on 020 8763 8039 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Date: 08/12/2005