#free-childcare

#free-childcare

Getty Images Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is to ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to examine the hidden costs parents may be charged by childcare providers. The Conservative government introduced 30 hours of free childcare for most working parents of three and four-year-olds in England for 38 weeks a year, and Labour extended eligibility to parents of children as young as nine months old. But ministers are concerned that families are still facing costs to secure places through demands for non-refundable deposits.

Many children who would benefit most from early years childcare may be missing out, experts have warned, as the government-backed free childcare rollout reaches its final stage. From 1 September, eligible parents can claim 30 hours of free childcare a week for any number of children. This applies to most working parents who earn up to 100,000 a year. There is also a minimum earnings limit of 9,518 that at least one parent must be earning,

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