Childcare Bill

My Lords, I, too, declare an interest in that, as a bishop, I oversee rather a lot of services for children, families and schools in the diocese. Sitting on these Benches, one is not always excited by the legislation that we get involved in, but I must tell the Minister that I am really quite excited by the possibilities presented by the Bill. It seems that, in this Bill, Parliament is doing what it is best fitted to do—namely, to improve the lives of a large number of people who need our support and help. Parents have always sought help and support in the nurture and development of their children. One only has to think of schools, nannies, nurseries, grandparents, childminders, babysitters, voluntary societies, parents and toddlers’ groups, uniformed organisations and so on—the list is enormous. Spreading out from these networks is a responsibility on the whole of our society to ensure the best support that we can achieve for parents in the care of their children. As the chairman of Christian Aid, I know all too well how disastrous it is for children when the structures of support and nurture collapse through poverty, oppression and disease. One only has to visit other parts of our world to see how important such structures are. I was especially pleased to find that the Bill places on local authorities a duty to reduce inequalities in this field. Let us not be deceived into thinking, however, that passing this Bill will achieve greater equality of opportunity and experience. Travel with me across the diocese of Chelmsford. Day one is spent in Thurrock, which I visited around the previous general election, passing through a community without a single sign of a general election taking place or of any interest in it. You wonder how parents of children in some of the poorest, most deprived and forgotten communities in our country survive. On day two, I am on the M11 corridor, where the houses get bigger every week and where you visit schools, churches and communities and find flourishing children with plenty surrounding them and plenty of support. On day three, I am in the borough of Newham, which is reputed to be one of the most multicultural boroughs in Europe; it certainly has one of the lowest age ranges in Europe. It has Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims, Jewish people, Christians of all shapes and sizes, and people of no faith from hundreds of different cultural backgrounds. That is the diversity that we are dealing with, so equality, as the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton, quite rightly said, should be central to any debate on the Bill. I would add to that by stressing the importance of improving everyone’s opportunity and by saying that the Bill must focus provision on the poorest and most vulnerable. Secondly, I want to comment on the process of working in partnerships, to which the Bill seems strongly committed. Words on paper need to lead to commitments to action. In Essex we are becoming used to public language. For example, we now talk about ““sustainable communities”” as Essex goes through one of the largest developments in our country at this time. I can tell your Lordships that those on the housing estates that are going up will want to know what the Government meant by that phrase as frequently only housing is built. So when we talk about ““partnerships””, what is the content? How will it work? I have been a bishop for more than 11 years and every time governments and local authorities talk about working in partnership I get excited about it, wake up and ask what will happen—and often it is not a great deal. Do we not need some structures to enable these partnerships to take place? Churches of all sizes and shapes are present in every local community. I have visited Sure Start projects in church buildings, Home-Start projects and a whole variety of services to children and parents. Churches represent volunteers, many of whom are sustaining these projects, and Churches also represent an understanding and experience of their local communities, along with their partners in the other faith communities, which we need to draw into this framework. So I hope that we will have some kind of commissioning framework which will make this possible. I wish to suggest three themes. First, parents and parenting, which are pivotal to a child’s development. We all know that children suffer through poor parenting and that poverty and disadvantage undermine that task even more so. What do the Government propose to do, following this Bill, to ensure that households that most need support receive it in this field? I was pleased to see the provisions with regard to disability and I am sure that we shall debate the kind of issues brought before us today by the noble Lord, Lord Rix. It is good to see such provisions in the Bill, which will give us an opportunity to see how far we can go. Secondly, I support the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, in regard to development. I have chosen the word ““development””—not ““education””—because the comments that have been made about play, nurture and whole development need to be understood in this context. I am delighted that we will be registering people and services and to see the word ““training”” in the Bill. What will be the content? What standards have we in mind; what expectations? How are we going to fill the word out so that we can offer to parents a real guarantee of excellence in these services? My third theme relates to social skills or socialisation. One of the things that can be achieved through the provision of childcare services is the development of children’s social skills, including enabling children to relate across the diversity of our social life today, with children from different cultural and religious backgrounds and children with different life and social experiences. These are important ways in which at an early stage we can make provision. My final question is a practical one which has already been raised: who is going to pay for all of this? I hope that Her Majesty’s Government do not think that we can achieve what the Bill is all about without investment and fresh resources for agencies and people who are committed to improving the life of children in our communities. These are important matters. If, as many of us believe, children are close to the heart of God, they should be close to the task of government and of this House. I often think that we spend time on legislation to little effect. Today we have the opportunity to begin something useful, morally defensible and of help to our society. I hope the Bill receives a fair wind.