Childcare Bill

The amendments tabled by the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, highlight the need for adequate expertise in a local authority area to ensure that its childcare provision is of good quality. They also highlight concerns that recent restructuring may have led to a loss of some expertise at senior levels. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, for giving me the chance to ask the Minister some questions. I echo her concerns, as raised by the NDNA. On qualifications, I totally agree and I hope to cover that when we consider the regulations further on in Clause 63—so not to prolong the course of the Grand Committee, I shall make my comments then. I take this opportunity to raise a couple of questions based on the information provided in the government document Childcare Bill: Duty to Secure Sufficient Childcare. Can the Minister provide us with further details behind the thinking on the type and amount of provision and the exact age of the children to benefit? Can she indicate, too, the possible timetable of the extension to the commitment to extending free provision to 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year by 2010? What information will the Minister’s department draw on in making those decisions? Subsection (2) states that the duty in the clause will be subject to guidance provided by the Secretary of State. Can the Minister please confirm whether that will be based on the current code of practice and, if so, are any alterations to the code envisaged? For example, what will be the key principles that the Government consider should underpin local delivery of the free entitlement, and what will be the dates for determining eligibility for a free place? I know how the arrangements are made now, in paying the private and voluntary sector, and they are rather cumbersome. Have the Government considered making different arrangements for making payments to private, voluntary and independent providers to deliver free places, and have they had any consultation with the sector on this issue? As I understand it, determining eligibility is done four times a year and a very close account is kept of dates of birthdays—and that information must be in by a certain time. All that is on top of what they should be doing, which is offering childcare. We have just had a long debate on the issue of quality, and I do not want to rehearse what has already been said at length. The government document states that the guidance under this section will contain,"““the role of the local authority in supporting quality, delivering choice and flexibility, monitoring local demand and take up””." Again, I wonder why that cannot be in the Bill. I am always wary of this Government’s preference for enabling legislation. I am nervous that in so many cases the details of the ideas have not been thought through, or perhaps even investigated at all. We need to dot the ““i””s and cross the ““t””s before we are satisfied that we are not signing blank cheques or passing unworkable schemes. I hope that the Minister can place on the record in this Committee some more detail to build on the broad statements made in the documents provided to date.