What happens to childcare promises that sound too good to be true

Editorial: In March Jeremy Hunt promised 30 hours a week of free childcare for all working parents. Now for the small print

Labour can promise to match the Tory childcare pledge – and possibly do so with more conviction (Reuters)

When Jeremy Hunt announced 30 hours a week of free childcare for all working parents in the Budget in March this year, it seemed too good to be true. Today we report further evidence that this is indeed the case.

New figures from Ofsted show that 3,320 of the 62,300 nurseries and childminders for under-fives in England have shut their doors in the past year, leaving 17,800 fewer childcare places available.

In March, it seemed that the chancellor, having restored order to the public finances after the disruption caused by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, had found that there was a magic money tree after all, and that it could pay for Scandinavian levels of social welfare.