There was good news for parents this week as the Prime Minister and Education Secretary launched the roll out the largest ever expansion of childcare in England’s history, with thousands of parents of two-year-olds across the country getting help with childcare costs for the first time.
Currently, working families in England with children aged three to four-years-old are eligible for 30 hours of free childcare for 38 weeks of the year (term time) – this is now being expanded so that working parents of two-year-olds now able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week. In Swindon alone this will benefit 3,000 families.
However, this is just the first step of the Government’s ambitious plan to support working families with the cost of childcare.
From September this year working parents with children from the age of nine months until they start school will be able to benefit from 15 hours of free childcare per week. Going further still, from September 2025 the full roll out will have been completed, with working parents able to access 30 hours from the end of maternity leave to when their child start schools. This will save parents an average of £6,900 per year.
Locally, as this expansion was being developed, I visited many of our brilliant local nurseries, including: Playsteps, Imagination and North Star, as well as nursery settings within local schools. I also hosted two Ministerial visits to local nurseries. This made sure those with direct experience could help shape not just this announcement, but also future changes for the Early Years Sector.
In Parliament I have spoken in many debates focused on Early Years. I have pushed for nurseries to be exempt from Business Rates (as is the case with schools), challenges around recruitment, the need for long-term certainty on funding rates, greater flexibility on additional costs and wider support for Special Educational Needs and Disability provision. These asks were all prompted by my visits to our local nurseries.
The government has responded to some of these issues, in particular around the need for the sector to deliver this expansion by increasing the number of staff and places. This includes: introducing measures to boost the recruitment and retention of childminders, launching a major national recruitment campaign, and providing over £400 million of additional investment to uplift funding rates in 2024-25. On top of this, the government will increase rates over the next two years by an estimated £500 million.
Supporting families with the cost of childcare is hugely important. Not only will this expansion deliver a considerable saving to working parents worth £6,900 per year, but it will provide greater flexibility to either return to work or increase hours – both vital for local businesses with recruitment challenges.
Finally, this week people across the country will benefit from our plan for the economy as we cut taxes for 29 million working people, worth £900 per year, uprate the state pension by 8,5% and boost the National Living Wage, as we stick with the plan to build a brighter and more secure future for everyone.
The economy is now pointing in the right direction, with near record employment rates, falling energy prices and an expectation that the rapidly falling inflation will lead to interest rates cuts. A positive outlook has now returned.
