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David Cameron pledges to phase in childcare reforms ahead of schedule

Tories have promised to double free childcare for 600,000 working parents

Sunday 31 May 2015 14:38 BST

During the election campaign the Conservatives pledged to introduce the measure in 2017 (Getty Images)

A promise to double free childcare for 600,000 working parents with three and four year olds is to be phased in early, David Cameron will announce.

The entitlement is to be increased from the 15 hours a week currently on offer during term time to 30 hours, in a move the Government says will be worth about £5,000 to families.

During the election campaign the Conservatives pledged to introduce the measure in 2017, but ministers will set out an accelerated timetable when the Childcare Bill is published.

The scheme, which only applies in England, will be rolled out in some parts of the country in September 2016 ahead of its full introduction the following year.

What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

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1/8What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

Welfare payments will be slashed

One of the most controversial parts of the Conservative manifesto was to cut benefits for the working age poor by £12 bn over the next three years. But during the campaign they only said where £2 bn of these savings would come from. That leaves £10 bn still to find. Some experts think the only way they can close that gap is by means testing child benefit – with millions of families losing out

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be tax cuts for those in work and those who die

The Tories will increase the threshold at which the 40p rate of tax becomes payable to £50,000 by 2020. They haven’t said so but it is also likely that at some point in the next five years they will abolish that 45p rate of tax altogether for the highest earners. They also want to increase the effective inheritance tax threshold for married couples and civil partners to £1m

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be an in/out EU referendum in 2017

The next two years are going to be dominated by the prospect of a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. First off David Cameron has the daunting task of negotiating a deal with other EU leaders an acceptable deal that he can sell to his party so he can go into the referendum campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote. This may be unachievable and it is possible that the Tories may end up arguing to leave. Opinion polls show Britain is divided on EU membership, one poll this year showed 51% said they would opt to leave compared to 49% who would vote to stay in

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be more privatisation of the NHS

Having won the election the Tories now have a mandate to go further and faster reforming the NHS. In order to make cost savings there is likely to be greater private involvement in running services, while some smaller hospitals may lose services they currently provide like A&E and maternity units

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be many more free schools – and traditional state schools will become a thing of the past

The Tories plans to create 500 new free schools and make 3,000 state schools become academies. They will also carry on reforming the Department of Education and remove more powers from local authorities over how schools are run

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

On shore wind farms will be a thing of the past and fracking will be the future

Government spending on renewable energy is under real threat now the Lib Dems are no longer in power with the Tories. Subsidies are likely to be slashed for off-shore wind farm and other green energy supplies. Meanwhile there will be generous tax break for fracking as ministers try and incentivise the industry to drill for onshore oil and gas

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There maybe more free childcare – but not necessarily

In the campaign the Tories pledged to double the amount of free early education for three- and four-year-olds from 15 hours a week to 30. The extra hours would only be offered to working families where parents are employed for at least eight hours a week. However they have not said where the money will come from to fund the pledge

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

Workers' rights could be reduced

The Tories want to slash business regulation, merge regulator and cut costs. The Lib Dems stopped them from reducing the employment rights of workers in power – but these are now under threat

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Ministers will also commit themselves to increasing the rate paid to nurseries and preschools to which look after small children. Its pledge follows accusations that the current 15 hours scheme is underfunded by the government.

The £350m cost of the new initiative will be met by cutting the tax relief on pension contributions on people earning more than £150,000.

Mr Cameron said: “This Government is on the side of working people - helping them get on and supporting them at every stage of life.

“That is exactly why we are pressing ahead with these reforms - so that not a moment is lost in getting on with the task - going further than ever before to help with childcare costs, helping hardworking families and giving people the opportunity to get into work.”

The CBI’s deputy director-general, Katja Hall, said: “It’s good to see the Government shining the spotlight on childcare and lending a helping hand to working families. Many parents want to come back to work or put in more hours after having a child, but can’t because of soaring childcare costs.

“Increasing free childcare provision is an important step to enabling parents to pursue their careers, and to allowing businesses to retain skilled and talented employees.”

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