I want to fund child care for high earners, Hunt says

JEREMY HUNT has said he wants to look at funding child care for “people on the highest salaries” if the Conservatives win the next general election.

The Chancellor doubled down on comments he made last week that for those in his constituency earning £100,000, “it doesn’t go as far as you might think” after factoring in mortgage costs and the price of child care.

Under the current child care system, if one parent passes the income threshold of £100,000, the family is no longer eligible for any of the available free entitlements or tax-free subsidies.

But Mr Hunt said he wanted to “look at” being able to boost child care provision for those on higher salaries at the next Parliament, should the Tories still be in power.

Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, the Chancellor said: “I was talking to a constituent who was pointing out that what sounds like a large salary, when you have house prices averaging around £670,000 in my area, if you’ve got a mortgage, and you’ve got child care costs, it doesn’t go as far as you might think.

“And she’s right… that’s why I want to give help to families and that’s why the child care measures are very important.”

The Government announced last year that it was expanding its child care scheme so that working parents earning less than £100,000 will be entitled to 30 hours free.

The staggered approach set out by Government will see working parents of two-year-olds able to access 15 hours of free child care from next month, which will be extended to all children from nine months old from September. The complete offer of 30 hours per week for working parents of children under the age of five is scheduled to be put in place in September 2025.