Greening unveils £50m grant scheme to create more childcare places

Education Secretary Justine Greening said around 200 nurseries and pre-schools will receive a share of the funding to invest in new buildings, convert old ones and upgrade facilities in order to help deliver the government's 30 hours free childcare offer.

The government first invited expressions of interest in additional capital funding last April, but gave no detail on how much would be available.

More than £2m of the funding will be invested in the first six "opportunity areas", announced by Greening last October, of Blackpool, Derby, Norwich, Oldham, Scarborough and West Somerset.

The areas have been identified as social mobility "coldspots" and are benefiting from a variety of additional funding streams to help children reach their full potential.

"We want Britain to be a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few," Greening said.

"That means removing the barriers facing parents who are struggling to balance their jobs with the cost of childcare, and spreading the opportunities available to hardworking families across the country.

"This funding, backed by our record £6bn investment in childcare per year by 2020, means we can make more free places available to more families across the country, helping us to deliver our childcare offer to thousands more children."

The DfE said grants have been focused on areas where there was a "demonstrable need" for additional places to support the delivery of the 30 hours offer.

Each bidder was required to contribute at least 25 per cent of the total funding they requested, in order to share the budget around the maximum possible number of projects around the country.

Under government plans, all three- and four-year-olds will be entitled to 30 hours of government-funded childcare each week from September 2017.