Childcare Bill

It is a pleasure to resume our deliberations on the Bill. I hope that we shall be able to deal with the outstanding issues succinctly; I shall certainly attempt to do so. New clause 1 allows persons authorised under clause 77 to apply to the court for a warrant for a constable to support them. It is purely a technical, tidying amendment—which means that we forgot to deal with it earlier—to ensure that the power under section 102 of the Children Act 1989 of a constable to assist is carried forward appropriately to the legislation. It would enable the court to issue a warrant in cases where it appeared that Ofsted had been prevented, or was likely to be prevented, from exercising powers under clause 77. Fortunately for all concerned, such applications have been extremely rare so we do not expect the provision to be needed frequently; none the less, it makes sense to include it. Amendment No. 18 simply tidies up the impact of the new clause by adding a power for a constable to assist in respect of family proceedings. On that basis, I commend the provisions to the House.