Childcare Bill

I can happily give the noble Baroness a categorical assurance that those concerns will not be realised under this Government. I believe that I can meet the legitimate points that she has raised. Her concern is to see that choice and flexibility for parents are maximised and not constrained, which is our objective too. I do not know whether the noble Baroness has seen the code of practice published at the start of this month on the provision of free nursery education places for three and four year-olds that we are seeking to expand, but my best response would be to quote from two key passages in it. I hope that when the noble Baroness has had a chance to reflect on it, she will agree that it meets the concerns. Paragraph 5.9 of the code states:"““The Department recognises that some providers are not open for 38 weeks and may not be able to offer the full entitlement, particularly in the first year—although they should be encouraged to do so wherever possible. Local authorities must nevertheless secure that there are sufficient 38 week places to meet parental demand. There is nothing to prevent parents from taking up a lesser free entitlement at the provider of their choice and providers should be funded accordingly. However, the local authority and the provider concerned have a responsibility to inform parents about the implications of their decision—in particular, that the local authority may not be able to fund top-up provision at an alternative provider””." In respect of new entitlements, paragraph 9.3 of the code of practice states:"““That is not to say that all providers will be required to meet every parental request for flexibility, rather that local authorities will have a responsibility to assess local demand and plan provision accordingly””." I hope that I can meet the noble Baroness’s concern. We are dealing with the obligation on the local authority to see that there is adequate provision to meet the new entitlement, but we are not saying—particularly in the early stages where, as she so rightly said, many providers may have difficulty making appropriate adjustments and so on—that they must make those changes otherwise they will not be eligible for funding. On that basis, I hope that the noble Baroness will agree that we are not nationalising childhood and that we do not need to proceed with this amendment.