Around eight million hours of funded childcare for three and four-year-old children will soon be available for working parents in East Staffordshire and South Derbyshire.
The offer of increased hours from 15 to 30 hours per week was originally trialled on 415 children in September last year, in Staffordshire, one of the highest counties for taking up funded childcare. It is now being rolled out nationally.
The Government says the launch of the increased childcare hours on September 1 will help thousands of parents across the county.
To be eligible for the scheme, both parents, or the parent in a single-parent family, must work the equivalent of at least 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage or living wage.
Parents are reminded that they need to check if they qualify and sign up for the scheme in advance here to secure the 30 hours of beneficial free childcare.
Childcare could range from a personal child-minder to a nursery for any three to four year old child with working parents.
Mark Sutton, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "The trial scheme showed what a huge difference these extra hours of childcare can make to people’s lives.
"For some families it puts more money in their pockets by either saving on fees, or allowing a parent to go out to work, or it simply makes a massive improvement to their work-life balance.
"At the same time the feedback from employers was that those benefiting seemed happier and more settled knowing that their childcare was sorted. We are encouraging parents to find out more and sign up if they qualify, before the offer goes live on September 1."
Depending on take-up, it's estimated the parents of around 7,000 children in Staffordshire could be entitled to the childcare which can be used during term time, or more flexibly over the year.
In Staffordshire, an impressive 96 per cent of pre-school places are rated 'good' or 'outstanding' by Ofsted.
Mark Sutton added: "These extra hours of high quality childcare help children get the best start before they arrive at school – they’re fantastic for children and parents and helps businesses recruit and retain staff.2
