Childcare Bill

I thank hon. Members for being positive about the changes that amendments Nos. 19, 20 and 21 would make to include safeguarding in the Bill. I am glad that the proposals have been generally welcomed. Let me deal with the comments of the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) on amendment No. 49. Towards the end of his remarks, he suggested that, although we might not be able to incorporate it in the Bill, we might take a great deal of interest in its substance. I am happy to give him that assurance. It is important that parents have full information about child protection and safeguarding. Information services clearly play a key role in ensuring that parents can make informed decisions on the suitability of various child care providers for their children. We will publish regulations and guidance to try to ensure that that is clear to parents. The hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke) stressed the importance of parents understanding the difference between regulated and unregulated settings. I agree. It is our intention that information services can and must tell parents about the registration status of providers and the implications of that, the difference between a registered and a non-registered setting and the checks that registered providers and their staff undergo as opposed to those that staff in unregulated settings may—or may not—undergo. Information services will need to inform parents about the questions that they should ask when they choose provision. In regulations, we intend to require information services to provide information about keeping children safe in the community. The information might include what parents should do if they have concerns, for example, about child protection or children’s welfare. It might also include initiatives or publications from the local safeguarding children boards. Their role in the community is to keep children safe in all sorts of settings in many different places. We hope that hon. Members agree that the obligations are comprehensive. The guidance and regulations will include holding such information centrally. I therefore hope that the hon. Gentleman will feel able not to press amendment No. 49, with the understanding that we have fully taken on board the points that Opposition Members made about the importance of information for parents and its centrality to what parents require when they choose provision. Let me deal with some of the points made by the hon. Member for Worthing—