Lib Dems pledge free childcare for all two-year-olds

At present, 260,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds are eligible for 15 hours of free childcare a week but the party has said it wants to extend the offer to all two-year-olds.

In a pre-manifesto announcement, the party has said it would pay for the expansion by scrapping the Conservative Party’s plans to give married couples a tax break, worth up to £200 per year, from April 2015.

Business minister Jo Swinson said that helping families with the cost of childcare is part of the party’s plans to build a stronger society.

She said: “Extending free early years education to all two-year-olds will benefit children and reduce childcare costs for working parents.

“Liberal Democrats want to help all families with childcare support and nursery education right the way through from the end of parental leave to the start of school.”

The plans have been welcomed throughout the early years sector but some have expressed concern about whether the Liberal Democrats will be able to deliver on their pledge.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said the party must invest sufficient funding into the expansion if it were to be successful.

He said: “While we fully support the motivation behind these plans, unless more is done to tackle the chronic underfunding of the existing free entitlement offers, this initiative – though commendable in its aims – will simply not succeed in the long-term.

“The current situation – where providers themselves are forced to subsidise free entitlement offers to be able to continue delivering places to the families that need them – is simply unsustainable.

“As such, it is vital that any steps to extend existing offers are only taken after those developing policy have gained a full and clear understanding of the true cost of delivering funded places, and can ensure that the initiative can be adequately funded.”

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, has similar concerns.

She said: “Currently, nurseries are losing on average £600 per child per year on free two-year-old places and £900 on three- and four-year-old places.

“The flawed early years funding system is not a fit basis to build upon and must be radically overhauled for this ambitious expansion of places to be achievable.”