The extra funding is hoping to create 9,000 new childcare places, enabling working parents to access 30hrs free childcare. The money will be allocated from the Department of Educations budget; this forms part of the pledge to spend £6bn a year on childcare by 2020.

With government investing further money into the scheme, does this highlight that the scheme will not be ready to be rolled out across the rest of country in Septemeber. Many childcare providers and childminders still have questions unanswered and are asking themselves if the scheme has actually been thought through properly.

Childcare providers are concerned that the scheme is being labelled as free when in fact this is not the case, it is not free at the point of delivery and each place being offered is being underfunded by the government, leaving the providers with a shortfall.

Latest figures show that 22 % of full daycare nurseries are unlikely to take part in offering the 30hrs free childcare, this would mean up to 51,000 children lose out