Readers’ forum: Managing risk on a childcare scheme

My client is a company that is looking to implement a scheme to help its employees with childcare. This is not something on which I have advised before.

The company does not have the expertise or facilities to provide childcare itself but has made contact with a third party provider which will for a fee put arrangements in place for the childcare. My client would then offer a salary sacrifice scheme to employees who wished to participate.

The basic research I have done suggests that this can be a problem area because it appears that in some of these schemes the employer plays no real part in the provision of childcare even though that it is a requirement of the relief. So I have two questions. The first is how my client can go about satisfying itself that the arrangements do meet the qualifying conditions and ...