Childcare Bill - 3rd Reading

Speech by Annette Brooke MP delivered to House of Commons on Thu 9th Mar 2006

Annette Brooke: May I, too, thank the Chairmen, Deputy Speakers and all the hon. Members on both sides of the House who have participated in Committee and on Second and Third Reading? I certainly agree that we have had some very good debates—perhaps longer ones than I had anticipated, given the nature of the Bill—on some rather interesting issues. I particularly thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams) for picking up some rather important Welsh omissions and for emphasising the rural nature of some of the child care settings in Wales.

It has long been Liberal Democrat policy to invest in children's early years, and we are delighted that the Government have proceeded with a large commitment since 1997. I know what a difference that has made to my constituency. I am sure that many children will be much better prepared for life. I am pretty convinced that we will eventually see some very goods returns on a lot of the Sure Start schemes. Whenever we—I use the royal "we"—are rather punitive towards young people, I hope that the early intervention that is taking place will make a real contribution to our local communities and society, and I mean that very sincerely.

I was going to count the number of times that Ministers have said "Oh, that's going to be in the regulations", but I found a better use for my time. They said that an incredible number of times in Committee, and that has been followed up at the same pace, if not an increasing pace, today. That makes scrutiny rather difficult. I am sorry that we could not have more information as we went through the Bill. I admit, of course, that we could not do so, because consultations were going on. I would not want to impede the consultations, but the lack of information seems a pity and it has made things difficult at times, because we have moved amendments to be immediately told, "That's all right: it's in the regulations"—but we have not seen them.

I also welcome the additional safeguarding measures. Although we mentioned safeguarding in our deliberations in Committee, experiences in school settings before Christmas heightened our awareness and made it important to table such amendments. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill will also deal with some of those issues.

We have discussed quality at great length and we can never lose sight of its importance. As has been shown, it makes all the difference to outcomes, especially in the very early years. I am not convinced that we have managed to include enough about quality in the Bill, but we had good debates about it.

I would like to believe that the Bill will make a difference. Clause 6 states:

"An English local authority must secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the provision of childcare . . . is sufficient".

Without the resources, "reasonably practicable" will mean minimal. I hope that the Government will monitor that to ensure that the Bill makes a difference. It may well be necessary to provide a top-up in resources. We must not make false promises to our constituents. The words in the Bill are generally good but, without the resources, they will not mean anything for our constituents. They will not make the genuine difference to the disadvantaged about which we all care, however we express that.

I sincerely hope that the word "taught" will be changed, but I have probably said enough about that for one day. I support Third Reading.