Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hails Governent's new childcare hours during visit to Hartlepool nursery

Mr Sunak spoke to parents at Aldersyde Day Nursery near Ward Jackson Park on Tuesday as the first families in England benefit from 15 hours of taxpayer-funded care for two-year-olds.

The policy, which came into effect on Monday, is the first phase of a plan to dramatically expand funded childcare for working parents.

During his visit to town, the Prime Minister was quizzed by working parents over whether the nursery sector had enough places and staff.

One of the parents said he thought there were issues of capacity in the sector.

Mr Sunak said there has been an expansion of people working in the sector and of the number of places over the past year.

Another parent joked that, with three children at the nursery, the new childcare houses “should have come earlier”.

Mr Sunak told reporters at the nursery: “This is a really positive week for the expansion of our childcare offer – to support families, giving them the choice of how best to juggle childcare and their career.

“I’ve been talking to families for whom that’s going to make a big difference."

The offer will be extended to working parents of all children older than nine months from this September, before the full rollout of 30 hours a week to all eligible families a year later.

Labour pointed to an analysis of Ofsted data that suggests the number of childcare places fell by more than 1,000 between March and December last year, ahead of the anticipated increase in demand for places.