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By Ione Wells
Political correspondent
Free childcare for working parents in England is expected to be expanded to cover one and two-year-olds in the Budget.
Currently, working parents with three and four-year-olds are eligible for 30 hours of free childcare per week.
The Treasury is not formally commenting ahead of the Budget.
It has not denied reports in the Guardian that the hourly rate paid to childcare providers by the government would also be increased.
At the moment, parents in England with children who are three to four years old may be eligible for 30 hours of free childcare.
The childcare must be with an approved provider, and applies for 38 weeks of the year during term time - or 52 weeks if fewer than 30 hours are required per week.
Eligibility requires parents to work and earn a minimum amount of at least £152 per week on average to qualify.
Those who have an expected "adjusted net income" of over £100,000 are not eligible.
The BBC has been told this scheme will be expanded to also cover one and two-year-olds.
The Treasury is not commenting formally ahead of Wednesday's Budget, but has not denied suggestions - first reported by the Guardian - that the scheme would be extended and that local authorities would be given funding to start setting up wraparound childcare provision in schools from September 2024.
Childcare costs in the UK are among the highest in the world and the government has been under pressure to provide more help to parents, including from some of its own MPs.
The rising cost of childcare has been widely seen as a deterrent for some parents to go back to work, or work full time.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is also expected to announce a range other measures to encourage people to return to the workplace, including increasing the total amount people can accumulate in their pension savings before paying extra tax.
The Guardian also reported that the government could introduce changes to the staff-to-child ratios for two-year-olds in childcare - moving from 1:4 to 1:5 to align with Scotland, which the Treasury has not denied.
Education is devolved, meaning any changes to childcare provision in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland would be a matter for the governments there.
The government has already announced that the Budget will include more help with childcare costs for families on universal credit.
The current £646-a-month per child cap on support for universal credit claimants is expected to be raised by several hundred pounds. They will also receive the funding upfront, instead of having to claim it back.
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