Millions more parents set to get 30 hours free childcare in Budget with expansion for one-year-olds

PARENTS of one-year-olds are expected to get 30 hours of free childcare in tomorrow’s Budget in a huge change.

Jeremy Hunt is set to extend help in a bid to get more Brits back to work to boost the economy.

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Jeremy Hunt is to help more parents afford pricy childcare[/caption]

Under major plans being signed off tonight, the parents of one and two-year-olds will get 30 hours of free childcare a week in future – for the first time ever.

And those looking after three year olds will get extra help too, the Guardian reported.

The Chancellor is also expected to hike the hourly rate paid by the Government to childcare providers, who have long said that the help they get doesn’t actually cover their costs.

More wraparound childcare through schools is also expected to be announced.

The policy is set to cost a whopping £4billion – and the Treasury had initially thought it would be too expensive to announce at tomorrow’s statement.

He’s set to reveal a package of measures tomorrow to get people back into work, including:

• Pension shake-ups so that wealthier, older workers can save more into their pensions without being taxed
• Universal Credit will be paid upfront rather than in arrears to help parents get back to work without going into debt
• Extra childcare help will see the Universal Credit rates go up for the first time in years

The Chancellor has admitted that the huge costs of childcare are stopping parents from taking up work.

Ministers want to cut the number of people who are economically inactive – out of work and on benefits, or retired.

He is planning a series of “skills bootcamps” to tempt retirees back into work.

There will also be an expansion to the “mid-life MOT” scheme where people are offered financial advice to see whether they can actually afford to retire early.

Elsewhere in the Budget, we’re expecting energy bill help to continue at the current rate of £2,500.

Smokers and drinkers are to be clobbered by extra taxes.

But thankfully for drivers, it’s expected that the Chancellor will freeze fuel duty and keep the 5p cut.