Plans to test 30 hours of free childcare expansion axed ahead of national rollout

The government's expansion of free childcare to the parents of children over nine months old is facing "significant risk", after the Department for Education (DfE) cancelled a major pilot of the scheme ahead of its nationwide rollout.

Government-funded free childcare was rolled out to the eligible parents of two-year-olds earlier this month, with 15 hours per week of nursery care provided for free, and the offer is set to expand to children over nine months old in September.

Public spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) said in a report on the government's childcare plans that the decision to cancel the trial of this next step "creates significant uncertainties around whether the sector can implement the changes and be financially sustainable".

Under the wider DfE plans, all eligible pre-school children of working parents will receive 30 hours of free childcare by 2025, but concerns have been raised that there has not been enough work to ensure that nurseries and childcare providers have the necessary staff and spaces to meet a massive increase in demand. By the time 30 hours of free childcare is rolled out in September 2025, around 85,000 extra nursery spaces and 40,000 further staff are expected to be needed to carry out the policy.

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To qualify for the expanded free childcare, parents must be in work and earning less than £100,000. Currently, two-year-olds get 15 hours free, while three and four year olds get 30 hours of free childcare in the year before they join primary school.

But, without a trial in some areas to see how childcare providers adapt and cope to the changes, which had an estimated cost of £35 million