Childcare Bill

I welcome the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) on his debut to the Front Bench. As he implied, I am well aware of his responsibilities because of the dozens of parliamentary questions that he has assiduously put my way, the answers to which he used to good effect today. It is good to see him on the Front Bench. We are considering a large group of new clauses and amendments, which cover a range of slightly different issues relating to the general matter of sufficiency, so I will try to deal with them in a way that makes coherent sense. The hon. Gentleman talked about the role of local authorities at the start of his speech. We have stressed the importance of that role throughout the Bill’s passage. A local authority is the strategic holder of the ring when making sure that there is a sufficiency of child care places for parents in their area. I appreciate that he wants to utilise all the levers that are already in the system to ensure that there is good local authority practice, sustainability and the level playing field about which he spoke. Several of the amendments represent proposals on best value and local area agreements. Although I appreciate the intention behind them, there is perhaps a misunderstanding about the way in which best value and local area agreements work at present. There is no need for a separate statutory code such as that in new clause 6 because all the functions carried out by a local authority are automatically covered by the best value regime and the guidance that has already been produced. The new clause would lead to a piecemeal change whereby a different duty of best value operated solely in relation to child care provision. Such a change would be not only confusing for local authorities, but unnecessary. I can make a similar point about new clause 8 because fairness is an intrinsic part of the best value regime that has already been legislated for. Local authorities must have regard to the combination of economy, effectiveness and efficiency. In doing so, they must also have regard to a range of considerations that include fairness and transparency. New clauses 8 and 6 together imply that special arrangements would be needed for the child care duty, and that is not the case. Amendment No. 60 relates to future sustainability. Again, I understand what hon. Members desire, and I support that, but the Bill already imposes a duty on local authorities to secure a sufficiency of child care. The word ““secure”” implies a duty for continuing effect. As long as the duty remains in place and is phrased in that way, the requirement is for the local authority to ensure sustainability in the future. Local authorities have to consider and plan for future changes that may have an implication on the requirements.