PARENTS and carers of children aged over nine months will be eligible for 15 hours of free childcare per week as of Monday, the government announced today. 

This will be in addition to 15 hours available to two-year-olds, and 30 hours offered to working parents of children aged between three and four, as rolled out under the Tories in April. 

The scheme is due to be further expanded next year, with the Department for Education pledging to fund 30 hours of free childcare a week for most working parents of children between nine months and school age by September 2025.