The UK government is today expected to announce it will extend its free childcare policy to parents of children aged one and two.
With Chancellor Jeremy Hunt poised ready to deliver his first Budget of 2023 at 12:30pm today, it has already been revealed ahead of time, according to multiple national news outlets, that a £4 billion support package will be unveiled to help parents and guardians cope with the cost of childcare as the cost of living crisis continues.
The government‘s plan is believed to include 30 hours a week of free childcare for families in England with children in that age group.
At present, only parents with children aged three and four are currently eligible.
Childcare has been a topic of much discussion in recent weeks, after it was revealed that UK childcare costs are among some of the most expensive in the world – with full-time nursery fees for a child under two coming in at an average of £269 a week last year, which is equivalent to around £14,000 annually.
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Government set to announce free childcare for children aged one and two / Credit: Tanaphong Toochinda & Ryan Fields (via Unsplash)
The Early Years Alliance also warned last week that nursery fees are predicted to increase even further and higher than in previous years – going up by an average of 8%.
Currently, all families of children aged three and four are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week, over 38 weeks, while households in England can qualify for 30 hours of free childcare a week if parents earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum or living wage.
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But the Chancellor is promising to extend this further in his Budget later today.
On top of the expected plans to extend the government’s free childcare offering, Mr Hunt could also be announcing a £288 million increase in funding for the current free childcare programme for three-year-olds by 2024-25, according to The Guardian, as well as addressing the issues raised over staffing numbers at childcare facilites nationwide.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is unveiling his first Budget of 2023 today / Credit: Flickr
In response to the reports of an expected funding boost, the Early Alliance’s Chief Executive, Neil Leitch, agrees that while it initially appears positive, “the devil is in the detail”.
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“We know that the sector is facing its most challenging time in decades,” Mr Leitch said.
“Settings are closing at record levels, there is a severe recruitment and retention crisis, and costs continue to soar.
“Unless the government puts in safeguards to ensure that funding for all early entitlement offers continues to meet the sharply rising costs of delivering places, not only now but in the future, what is currently a crisis will end up in catastrophe.”
The Chancellor has come under pressure in recent weeks to act on childcare, and respond with an offer to rival Labour’s plan for radical overhaul after the next General Election.
While The Treasury has already announced plans to increase the £646-a-month cap on support for parents on Universal Credit by several hundred pounds, and pay the support up front instead of parents having to claim it back, opposition parties and critics are still demanding more be done by the Conservative government.
Government sets out multi-million-pound plan to move UK away from animal testing in science
Emily Sergeant
A £22m push to ramp up the UK’s move away from animal testing in science is set to bring together cutting-edge tech and research.
The latest figures show there were 2.54 million animal testing procedures in Great Britain in 2025, which is down 3.8% on 2024, but with a further update due to be released later this year, the Government is now moving to ‘capitalise’ on that momentum with funding to shift the nation onto alternative testing options.
A dedicated national research hub and nine new high-tech projects are planned to develop ‘better ways’ to test medicines on human biology rather than animals.
According to the Government, this means treatments for conditions like cancer and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) could be developed ‘faster’ and ‘more precisely’ to not only help patients but crucially also move science away from traditional animal testing.
At the heart of the plans is a new Pre-clinical Translational Models Hub – based in Cambridge and backed by £20 million in Government funding, which will work to build and share models of human tissue, grown from NHS patients, to test new treatments.
The new hub will accelerate the development of testing on ‘organoids’ – tiny, simplified versions of a human gut, tumour or brain, using cells donated by patients.
From beating heart cells in a dish to AI that can predict how drugs move through the body, exciting alternatives to animal testing are transforming medical research.
We're investing £22m to help scientists develop the next generation of life-saving treatments. pic.twitter.com/1EWRQvwySa
— Dept. for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (@biztradegovuk) August 12, 2026
Because these ‘organoids’ retain crucial features of a patient’s own biology, they will help researchers learn how a real person may respond to a drug and provide additional insights that can complement information that is currently obtained from animals.
Scientists will then be able to use these cutting-edge techniques in their own labs to work out which medicines are worth pursuing.
Overall, it’s hoped that the move will slash the time it takes to get ‘potentially life-changing’ treatments to market.
Alongside the funding for the new Hub, nine cutting-edge projects aimed at identifying new methods of animal-free scientific testing – from beating heart cells in a dish, to lab-grown human ear models, and AI that predicts how medicines move through the body – are being funded.
Sadly, many of these still rely on testing on dogs and monkeys, as it stands.
“This marks another significant step forward in the UK’s move away from animal testing in science and research,” commented Science Minister Chris McDonald.
“This is all about backing our world-leading researchers and innovators to improve lives, giving them the tools they need to deliver more effective treatments for horrendous diseases like cancer, while also preventing the need for animal testing wherever possible.
“It’s also a boost for our life sciences sector, fuelling opportunities for new investment and new jobs, and ensuring Britain is better off.”
Elbow get behind campaign to save Jodrell Bank from closure
Danny Jones
Manc band Elbow are among the latest to get behind the campaign to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from closing permanently.
The Greater Manchester natives famously played a sold-out gig at the important scientific and cultural landmark for a very special live album recording well over a decade ago, and know all too well the site’s national and, indeed, global heritage.
Choosing the Observatory and the rare chance to perform a show in the shadow of the world-renowned James Lovell Telescope, it probably remains one of their most significant standalone UK date ever.
With that in mind, the local lads have been left just as worried by the news of its impending closure as everyone else, and have therefore issued a fresh appeal to help keep it open.
Posting a timely statement on social media, the group wrote: “Jodrell Bank has long been close to elbow’s heart. In 2012, the band played beneath the Lovell Telescope for one of the most memorable shows in our history.
“The recent news that funding for the e-MERLIN radio telescope network is set to end in 2028 puts the future of the scientific work at Jodrell Bank under serious threat. It is a remarkable place, with an extraordinary history, and one that continues to play an important role in science, culture and education.”
In addition to reliving clips and images from the historic live set all the years later, they also pointed people towards their ‘elbow – Live at Jodrell Bank‘ album documentary, which has now been made available online for the very first time as part of wider efforts to raise awareness around the cause.
Directing people to key online resources shared by the institution and astrophysics centre itself following their unfortunate update late last month, the push to not only find the funding but sustain support for the facility continues to ramp up throughout the world of science, arts and industry.
For anyone who somehow missed the news – 2028 being the current deadline handed down as per budget cuts across the sector – concerned parties here in the North West and all over the country have since started petitioning to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from shutting down for good.
In addition to being described as a “huge blow” to the field by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), some have even gone so far as to describe the decision as a form of “vandalism” when it comes to research and British culture as a whole.
Having also served as the host venue for the annual bluedot Festival since 2016, the multi-genre science and arts celebration could soon be forced to find a new home.
The battle is far from over yet, and the community has time to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from its fate, but it will take lots of money and more notable public figures to make it happen.
Once again, you can do your bit by signing the petition mentioned above right HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
15th March 2023 
