The Government should help parents back into work who have been priced out due to expensive or inaccessible childcare, according to a business group seeking ways to ease labour shortages.

The highest ever share of hiring firms are reporting that they are struggling to fill vacancies since records began in 1989, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said.  

The Government should in the short term give working parents more money through the Tax-Free Childcare scheme, and in the longer term let parents claim additional tax back on childcare costs, the organisation said.

Alex Veitch, director of policy and public affairs at the BCC, said: "British businesses are facing the highest level of recruitment difficulties on record.  

"Instead of seeing any easing of our extremely tight labour market, this issue only continues to head in the wrong direction.

"The burden of childcare is also a major barrier to inactive workers re-entering the workforce. 

"Access to childcare must be simple and affordable; we would like to see the introduction of a flexible family childcare budget that can be used to the meet individual family's' needs."   

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