Will The Extended Childcare Scheme Boost Tory Hopes?

This week marks the start of the rollout of the government's much-vaunted expansion of childcare, costing some £4bn a year.

- SEAN O'GRADY

According to the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, "by the end of our rollout, this will save working parents on average £6,900 a year, helping 60,000 more people back into work".

The prime minister has been busily touring classrooms and telling news crews that it’s a “positive and exciting moment”. At the moment, for working parents of three- and four-year-olds, 30 hours of childcare funded by the government is already available, and the expansion of the cover is being rolled out in these phases:

• 15 hours free childcare a week for two-year-olds from this month
• 15 hours free childcare for nine-month-olds from September 2024
• 30 hours free childcare for all under-fives from September 2025

To qualify for the new hours, the majority of parents must earn more than £8,670, but less than £100,000 per year.

Recognising that, despite the plan, not everything will be available immediately, Keegan says the government is “working all across the country to make sure we build the capacity to cope with the demand”. Many parents have faced problems, however, with actually getting their offspring into a facility in good time. Labour calls the rollout “a mess” and has pledged to review it. Childcare lobby group the Early Years Alliance warn that “simply promising ‘more free childcare’ is meaningless if you’re not willing to invest in the infrastructure needed to deliver it”.

So will the scheme be a success?