More families used tax-free childcare in South Hams last year, recent figures show.

Tax-free childcare helps working parents afford childcare. For every £8 a parent pays into their tax-free childcare account the Government adds an extra £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 per child, and £4,000 per disabled child, a year.

Ahead of last year's general election, Labour had pledged it would deliver enhanced access to affordable childcare once in office.

While more families across the UK now use tax-free childcare and funded childcare, charity Coram Family and Childcare warned many households still cannot access it.

It added all children should have access to early education.

HM Revenue and Customs figures show some 1,250 families used tax-free childcare for around 1,690 children in South Hams in the year to March.

It was up from about 1,140 families the previous financial year.

Across the UK, around 816,000 families used this type of childcare for some 1.1 million children in the year to March – up from 740,000 families and 966,000 children the previous year.

It was the highest figures since the scheme began in 2017-18.

However, monthly figures show the government top-up towards the scheme has declined from a record-high £62.3 million when the Labour party took office in July last year, to £55.3 million in March.

HMRC says this reflects the increased availability of the Department for Education's funded childcare scheme.

This scheme has been expanded, so those eligible will see 15 hours of funded childcare increase to 30 hours in September.

Both tax-free childcare and funded childcare schemes were introduced by the previous Conservative government to tackle expensive childcare.

In its election manifesto, Labour pledged to deliver enhanced access to childcare, to financially support working families and help more parents re-enter the labour market.

Lydia Hodges, head of Coram Family and Childcare, welcomed the increasing number of families accessing tax-free childcare, adding funded childcare has "reduced childcare bills and eased the burden of high costs that working parents have faced for too long".

But she warned the schemes are not available to all families across the country, and said those not eligible need to spend a considerable amount of money for their children to access early education.

She added wider access to 30 hours of funded childcare in September will mean the gap between what disadvantaged children and those with working parents can access "will be wider than ever".

She said: "We know the power that early education has to give children the best start in life and that’s something we want for all children.

"We need to start moving to a system that gives every child an equal right to a nursery place from nine months until they start school, not just those with working parents, in the same way that a child is guaranteed a school place.

"This much simpler system would ensure no child or parent loses out."

A DfE spokesperson said: "Giving every child the best start in life is central to our mission to break the unfair link between background and success – and that starts with improving access to high-quality early education.

"We know it’s often the most disadvantaged families who miss out on the support they need, and fixing this is a priority for the Government."

They said Labour's Plan for Change is "building an early years system that supports hundreds of thousands of working families".

"We are helping parents with the cost of childcare, supporting their choices around work, and ensuring more children start school ready to learn."