MUMS and dads are being promised twice as much free childcare to help them juggle parenting with paying the bills – so what’s not to like?

David Cameron even promised to bring forward those plans – upping the weekly hours from 15 to 30 hours, for three and four-year-olds – so everything will be fine, right?

Well, no, say nurseries and childminders. And their criticism is important, because it is likely to be a recurring theme of the next few years….that a bold promise lacks the hard cash to make it reality.

It was a striking moment of the election campaign, when the Conservatives suddenly bolstered their family-friendly credentials with an eye-catching childcare offer.

Pah, they said, to Labour’s plans for a free 25 hours each week, that’s nothing – we’ll make it 30 hours.

This week, the prime minister set the ball rolling, promising trials in September next year – one year early – with 600,000 families set to gain a further £2,500 a year, eventually.

Mr Cameron said: “My message is clear. This Government is on the side of working people, helping them get on and supporting them at every stage of life.”

But the problem is not only that the money isn’t there to fulfil this policy, it’s that the money isn’t there to carry out the current policy – so some parents are, unbelievably, paying more for their childcare.

That’s the verdict of the Pre-school Learning Alliance of private and voluntary childcare providers, which commissioned independent research.

It tracked the costs for 5,635 children in randomly selected nurseries and pre schools across the country, including 11 in the North-East and a further six in Yorkshire.

The research found the average hourly cost of a childcare place for a three or four year old is £4.53, yet the Government hands providers only £3.88 – almost 17 per cent too little.

This week, Neil Leitch, the Alliance’s chief executive, said: “We are at breaking point with just the 15 hours.

“I think there will be a meltdown. You will see more and more providers withdrawing from the system and that will undermine the entire policy.”

Private nurseries will lose £660 a year for each child taking up 30 hours – instead of just 15 hours - if funding remains at the current level, the Alliance warned.

It estimates a £350m funding gap. And nurseries providing 30 hours free will now struggle to plug that gap by ramping up prices for other parents – forcing them under.

Now, No.10 did announce a review of funding rates, but – and I know I’m a stuck record on this subject, but it’s crucial – the Government is about to announce massive, massive spending cuts.

I wonder how many more times we will see goodies promised, only for the harsh reality of endless austerity to intervene?

Back in February, No.10 overruled the department for transport’s top civil servant to axe those hated Pacer trains – and his warning that the £250m required simply doesn’t exist.

That’s a story that could come back in the autumn spending review, when billions must also, somehow, be found for the NHS, to freeze rail fares, hike income tax thresholds and the rest.

It can’t all be funded from whacking people on tax credits and disability benefits.