At the moment this is a hypothetical question, because we haven’t yet checked out the situation thoroughly:
Claimant works 40+ hours a week and has three dependant children. He pays childcare costs while he goes out to work. The care provider is his ex-partner and (as far as I am aware) the mother of the children. If it turns out that she is a registered childminder, or meets any one of the other qualifying conditions for the care provider, I think the costs would be allowed against his income, as there does not seem to be anything in the regs that would disqualify her as a ‘proper’ care provider on the grounds that she is the children’s mother.
Or am I missing something?