Childcare Bill

I should like to speak to Amendments Nos. 20 and 61, in my name, to support Amendment No. 17, in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, and to comment on the rest of the group. Amendments Nos. 20 and 61 would ensure that in both England and Wales a local authority must secure—and I use that phrase again—““so far as is reasonably practicable”” childcare provision sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area to enable them to take up or remain in unpaid voluntary activity as well as work. On 9 March, we debated in the Chamber the importance of the voluntary sector to society. We do not have time to go over everything that was said, but the debate highlighted the many good causes and organisations, big and small, political and non-political, that people help to support, and which more often than not tend to do the job better than statutory organisations. While unpaid, that significant form of work is, none the less, work. We feel that it should be included when a local authority is assessing its area’s childcare provision. Failure to do so could see a decline in services on which many local people depend and rely and effectively be a kick in the teeth to many voluntary activities, not least activities involving children, such as local football teams, after-school clubs or play groups. Amendments Nos. 15, 18, 19 and 21 make a few simple changes to emphasise the need to consider the childcare requirements of families as a whole. This covers many of the points we made in earlier debates on our Amendments Nos. 2 and 10 regarding the importance not only of parents and their influence on the well-being of a child but also of the extended family, particularly for the most disadvantaged children and where there is only one parent in the family. As such, I warmly support those amendments. I have a slight concern that Amendment No. 22, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, as worded and positioned could be read as suggesting that parents in the area may need childcare to improve the well-being of their child, and that they are not capable of ensuring the well-being of their children on their own. Admittedly, some may not, but we cannot suggest that this should be a generalisation. Amendment No. 29 raises childcare provision for non-working families, while Amendment No. 23, proposed by the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, aims to encourage and support the involvement of parents in pre-school playgroups. He said that he had no knowledge of them. I do. My children went to an excellent playgroup run by Mrs Curly. I agree with him that that would offer the parent a chance to develop skills and a network of contacts which are perhaps likely to ease their path back into work, or they may see that as work they want to undertake themselves. Thus, it covers both parental involvement and non-working families. The question of childcare for non-working parents is important—having children of my own, I believe that being a parent is a full-time job in itself, thus it may come down to our definition of ““work””. The National Children’s Bureau and the Early Childhood Forum have highlighted that childcare is not a phenomenon needed by working parents alone. All children benefit from interaction with their peers, which helps cognitive and social development. Full-time parents also benefit from a well earned break and a chance to relax. Amendment No. 17, in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, is very important. When we spoke in the Easter Recess, the noble Earl explained his reasoning. I thought that no one could take exception to an amendment whose purpose is to avoid unintentional undermining of parents’ commitment to their children. He said that it would be most unhelpful for parents to feel that they were not equally valued for their work in caring for their children. On 15 October 2003, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph,Patricia Hewitt said:"““If I look back over the last six years I do think that we have given the impression that we think all mothers should be out to work, preferably full time as soon as their children are a few months old . . . We have got to move to a position where as a society and as a Government we recognise and we value the unpaid work that people do within their families””."