No childcare guarantee

EDUCATION Secretary Gillian Keegan has refused to guarantee the Government's childcare pledge will be met on time as she is "not in control of all the bits".

Mrs Keegan said she was "really confident" parents would be able to access an expansion of Government-funded childcare provision but stressed she could not offer an iron-clad guarantee.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted last month all eligible children in England would be able to benefit from his Conservative administration's expanded childcare offer being phased in from the spring.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in March that eligible families of children as young as nine months will be able to claim 30 hours of free childcare a week by 2025.