General Election 2015: David Cameron to promise 600,000 new pre-school places

The Conservatives have pledged to double free childcare for toddlers

David Cameron meets with parents in 2012 (Getty Images)

An extra 600,000 pre-school places will be created by the Conservative promise to double free childcare for three and four year olds, David Cameron will say.

He will point to the policy commitment as evidence that only the Tories have detailed plans to make work pay.

The Prime Minister will argue “that true compassion isn’t giving people a benefits cheque – it’s giving them a chance.”

The Conservatives have pledged to increase from 15 to 30 hours a week the amount of free childcare for three and four-year-olds with parents working at least eight hours a week. The move would be worth £5,000 a year when introduced in 2017.

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Mr Cameron will say: “That means over 600,000 extra free childcare places available for families every year – 9m extra hours of childcare a week and parents able to work an extra 78 days a year without any childcare costs – all by 2017.”

He will claim that 300,000 fewer children are living in relative poverty than in 2010 because of falling unemployment, changes to the tax and benefits system and help with childcare costs.

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