THE GOVERNMENT’S decision to extend free childcare entitlement only to working parents is unlawfully discriminatory, the High Court heard today.

In 2016, the government doubled the pre-existing entitlement to free childcare for all three and four-year-old children from 15 hours to 30 hours per week, but only if their parents were in work.

Three lone parents and their young children have taken the Department for Education (DfE) to court, claiming it has unlawfully discriminated against lone parents who are carers, or who have been the victims of domestic violence, and their children.