The founder of a childcare company in which the prime minister’s wife holds shares met the children’s minister days before a budget announcement from which the firm stood to benefit.
In March’s budget the Treasury announced a pilot scheme to give incentive payments of £600 to childminders if they set up on their own, or £1,200 if they agree to sign up through an agency. The announcement sparked controversy after it emerged that Akshata Murty was a shareholder in Koru Kids, one of six agencies listed on the Department for Education’s website for people interested in “becoming a childcare provider”.
Two days before the budget, Claire Coutinho, the children’s minister and a longstanding ally of Rishi Sunak, met representatives of Koru Kids in her office
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