Free childcare trial brought forward

Free childcare trial brought forward

Trials of a scheme to double the 570 hours of free childcare a year three and four-year-olds get in England are to be brought forward to 2016.

Working parents in some areas will be entitled to the extra help when pilots begin in September next year.

Currently, all three and four-year olds in England are entitled to 570 hours of free early education or childcare a year, which works out as 15 hours each week for 38 weeks of the year.

The Childcare Bill, announced in last week's Queen's Speech, would double this for working parents with a household income of less than £150,000 - although it is not clear yet how many hours they will have to work in order to qualify.

The change had been due to come into force from September 2017, but David Cameron said the government was speeding up that timetable "so that not a moment is lost in getting on with the task".

The bill is being introduced to Parliament today (Monday 1 June) and a consultation launched to gather opinions from childcare providers, parents and others on how the policy should work in practice.