Badenoch removes earnings cap

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch proposes scrapping the £100,000 salary cap on funded childcare. Any parent working at least 16 hours weekly would qualify for 30 hours free care.

“you shouldn't be punished for working more”

Current system withdraws all support

Under present rules, parents of young children can claim 30 hours of funded care if both earn under £100,000 annually. If a single parent's income exceeds this, the entire entitlement is withdrawn.

Badenoch calls rules absurd

Unveiling the pledge at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Badenoch described the current system as absurd and a disincentive to work more or seek promotion.

“this childcare cliff edge does exactly that”

Policy costs £700m annually

Party officials calculate the policy would cost £700m a year. They propose funding it through reductions in civil service headcount across arm's-length public bodies like Arts Council England and the Environment Agency.

Savings target £1.6bn by decade end

Officials suggest shrinking organisations such as Arts Council England and the Environment Agency could generate £1.6bn in savings by the end of the decade. NHS organisations are excluded from the job cuts.

Badenoch rejects means-testing approach

Asked why she was not considering a taper instead of abolishing the threshold entirely, Badenoch said the policy targets people like a deputy head teacher becoming a head teacher, earning between eighty-five and one hundred ten thousand pounds.

“She goes from 85 to 110,000. She's got three kids. All of a sudden, she's losing tens of thousands of pounds.”

Labour attacks Tory priorities

Labour responded that no government has invested more in early years than the current Labour government. A Labour spokesperson said the Conservatives' focus on unpicking policies helping higher earners shows their priorities.

“It tells you everything you need to know about the Tories that the first of their own tax policies they want to unpick is one helping higher earners.”