Expanded entitlement

In the Government’s spring budget 2023, the Chancellor announced transformative reforms to childcare, which included the expansion of the nursery funding entitlements for working parents by introducing:

• The introduction of 30 hours of free childcare for children over the age of nine months. This is being introduced in phases.
• April 2024 working parents of two-year-olds able to access 15 hours a week
• September 2024 parents of children aged nine-months up to three-years-olds able to access 15 hours a week
• September 2025 parents from nine-months to three-years-olds able to access 30 hours a week

The government has provided childcare expansion capital grant funding to support the expansion of childcare places.

The department is providing £100m of capital funding in 2023-24 to support local authorities in delivering the expansion of the 30-hours early years entitlement for working families and of wraparound provision in primary schools.