Childcare Bill

The hon. Gentleman has a smile on his face, as if he thinks he has caught me out, but I think he will find that I have a sound and accurate explanation for him. New clause 3 makes transitional arrangements to enable data to be collected from funded nursery education before the provisions in new clause 2 come into force. New clause 2 will come into force as a whole in September 2008 for all providers, but for providers who are already getting funding for nursery education, we can legitimately get that information, which will of course be partial, earlier because it is already being collected. The new clause gives the legal power for a transitional arrangement to enable that to be done for a year, before the full force of new clause 2 takes effect. Section 7, therefore, is the present clause 7 of the Bill.