Ministers expect thousands of parents to benefit from the scheme, starting early from September in Wigan, Staffordshire, Swindon, Portsmouth, Northumberland, York, Newham and Hertfordshire.
The Department for Education confirmed that parents in the areas will need to meet the eligibility criteria for the offer, that is all parents in the household working more than 16 hours a week at the national minimum or living wage, up to a maximum salary of £100,000 a year per parent.
However, it will be up to each local authority to decide how they will offer the places during the trial.
In addition, 25 areas spread across six regional cluster areas will share £4m to work together as ‘Early Innovators’ on specific issues, such as how to make it easier for providers to offer places for children with disabilities and special educational needs, flexibility, availability of places, and supporting parents to work.
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