details, this is after it has emerged that a childcare firm that is partly owned by his wife is to benefit from potentially major changes made in the budget. we understand the bbc that this is in relation to a company, a childcare firm that his wife has shares in, you may or may not remember, if you are following the budget here in the uk last month thatjeremy hunt announced a pilot of payments for new childminders. with more for those who sign up through agencies, think the fee was possibly £1200 would be offered to those who were trained to be a childminder through an agency. and it understand that british and i did not mention his wife s interest when he was speaking about these changes at an appearance before the liaison committee, he was directly asked if he had anything to declare commies at all my disclosures have been made in the normal way. disclosures have been made in the normalway. it disclosures have been made in the normal way. it does now emerge his wife has, we underst
states. the uk prime minister rishi sunak is being investigated by pa rliament s standards commissioner. the bbc understands the investigation is in relation to a childcare firm his wife has shares in. the commissioner said the investigation concerns a declaration of interest. downing street said they would be happy to assist the commissioner. our political correspondent is in westminster, take us through this? at the core of this is the fact the government are very keen to see childcare expanded, it will be a big election issue, all the parties are competing to put their offers forward, so what happened at last month s budget was that extra money was made available, a £600 bonus if you wanted to sign up as a childminder. however, if you signed up childminder. however, if you signed up with private agency, one of six private agencies, you would get 1200, twice the cash. and one of those agencies, a minority shareholder in that company is none
on top of that, we learnt today the prime minister is under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner. it follows a complaint made in recent days that he failed to properly inform mps his wife, akshata murty, might stand to benefit from a measure announced in the budget. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, is offering £600 incentives to anyone who trains to be a childminder, but that sum doubles to £1200 if these workers sign up through an agency. and one of the six private agencies that will profit is koru kids, in which mr sunak s wife is a shareholder. the prime minister was asked about the scheme in front of parliamentary committee last month. also we just want to make sure the policy s effective in bringing additional people into the system because, i think. and there s nothing the prime minister wishes to declare in respect of that? no, i mean, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way. in a moment, we will get the latest on the strikes with our health editor h
government provision, affordable places, subsidised places, where that provision is also weakest. so we see parents paying out to go out to work, particularly when looking to return from maternity leave, before the kind of free hours offer that we see in countries like england or across the uk kick in, and we know that childcare costs are placing an enormous strain on families budgets but also on families in the round. so we know that where there isn t affordable childcare in place, where you can t get a childminder locally, where you can t get your child into a nursery that you think they d be happy in, it either means that parents take the strain on themselves, they either reduce their hours in the workplace, or they leave the workplace altogether to care full time for their children. women are still massively the ones to carry the burden of care. in fact, the oecd, that s the organisation for economic co operation and development, says that women are three times more likely to take