My Lords, I will speak to this group and to Amendment 276, in the name of my noble friend Lady Hayman of Ullock. I thank the Minister for her time last week in explaining the government position. It was really appreciated, and I hope I can persuade her of the merits of Amendment 276 today.
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On these Benches, we believe local authorities should have an explicit right to establish and run childcare provision themselves—not simply, as is currently allowed, as a provider of last resort but as a principle of the right to devolved decision-making by councils. I am grateful to Members from across the House for supporting this principle, on which I am minded to test the opinion of the House later.
The model for providing childcare in England is broken. The noble Baroness listed the hours of entitlement, and nobody disputes that childcare needs expanding. However, the broken hours system is failing parents, providers and our children. One of the first things Labour would do in government is remove legal barriers to councils opening new childcare facilities, as part of a wide-ranging reform to childcare provision. This is a legal barrier the Government could choose to remove now, but they would rather suggest that, in some senses, councils do not want this, when the truth is actually that the legislation effectively ties their hands.
Over 5,000 childcare providers closed between August 2021 and 2022. It is not clear what the Government are doing to reverse this trend or how; it would be helpful if the Minister could elaborate on what actions she is taking to reverse this trend.
The government amendments are not controversial; the work of childminders is of course an important aspect of provision. However, adding these into the Bill at this point demonstrates the lack of strategy and foresight the Government have in their approach to childcare, and their kitchen-sink approach to this Bill. Although we will not be opposing these changes, they
demonstrate the limit of the Government’s ambition when it comes to ensuring the provision Britain’s families want and need. The Government’s continued pursuit of their broken hours model leaves them neglecting the wider structural issues. Can the Minister tell this House when the Government will take coherent measures that will tackle the issues of spiralling costs for parents, a workforce in crisis and collapse in provision?
Labour’s amendment would help enable local authorities to deliver the childcare that families in their areas need and want. Local authorities can play a valuable role in the delivery of childcare through both direct delivery and supporting maintained nursery schools, which are often ranked among the best early years provision in England. Making local authorities able to establish childcare provision only as the provider of last resort is an unnecessary barrier to getting children and families the care they need. Would the Minister explain why the Government want to tie the hands of local government? Why do the Government not trust councils to make their own decision on this matter? It is currently almost impossible for a local authority to meet the requirements of the law. We have the support of the Local Government Association in putting forward this measure for that reason.
With 90% of councils concerned about nursery capacity because of widespread closures, and with councils responsible for directing an expected 80% of childcare places under the government expansion of funding rates, does the Minister agree that the role of local government will become even more critical in managing local provision? Does it not, in that instance, make much more sense to remove barriers to councils to providing delivery themselves? Removing this barrier on local authorities would help enable their delivery of this responsibility and help deliver the increased provision that I think everybody across this House would like to see. The Government have recognised this is a challenge for local authorities, having themselves commissioned a consultancy to deliver Childcare Works to work with local authorities and support them in delivering this statutory responsibility.
In conclusion, I ask the Minister to reconsider and support this amendment. Removing this barrier, so any local authority that is in a position to open new childcare provision and wants to do so can, if they choose to, would support better care for children, create additional choices for families and help build a new modern system that supports families from the end of their parental leave to the end of primary school.