Save £6,500 on nursery fees with new scheme

An extra 285,000 families could benefit from free childcare. Joe Wright explains how

Government support for parents is cut off once you earn six figures for Education says it takes about 20 minutes to apply online.

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, said the new measures will help ensure that “parents no longer have to choose between a career and a family”.

In November, research by the Fawcett Society found that about 250,000 mothers with young children had left their jobs over childcare pressures. Its survey of 3,000 working parents of preschool children found that one in 10 mothers had handed in their notice, while more than two-fifths had turned down a promotion opportunity because childcare worries.

Britain is the third most expensive country for childcare among members of the OECD – outranked only by Switzerland and New Zealand.

More than £400m is being invested in increasing the amount providers receive a “free” hour over the next year, while cash incentives of up to £1,200 are being offered to encourage people to become childminders.

From April, the amount it pays providers to deliver childcare will increase to an average of £ 11.22 an hour for under-twos, £8.28 for two-year- olds, and £5.88 for three and four-year-olds.

Despite this, there are fears over a lack of supply in the childcare sector. Ofsted figures show childcare providers in England fell by 5pc in the year to August last year, as nurseries, preschools and childminders struggled to absorb inflated energy and food prices.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, which represents nurseries and childminders, said parents hoping to access funded childcare will be disappointed as they seek to secure spaces for their children.

He said: “With the sector facing its worst recruitment and retention crisis in recent memory, many settings simply won’t have the staff needed to deliver places to additional children – and unless funding increases this is unlikely to change any time soon.”

The Department for Education said it is “confident in the strength of our childcare market to deliver the largest ever expansion in childcare in England’s history”.