Proceeding contribution from Earl of Listowel (Crossbench) in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 19 April 2006. It occurred during Debate on bill and Committee proceeding on Childcare Bill 2005-06.
Childcare Bill
I thank the Minister most sincerely for his painstaking and careful responses to this group of amendments and to my amendments in particular. He has given me a lot of helpful information to consider. I am grateful to those who have spoken to these amendments and for the support I have received in some areas. I regret that the workforce survey will not be reporting for two months. Could the Minister supply historic information, especially if we could break it down by kinds of provision—perhaps geographically to a degree? If it were as nuanced as possible, that would be helpful. The issues of turnover and of the ratios of level 6 and level 3 staff are crucial. Any information that he could provide would be helpful. I am not experienced in this area, but I am concerned that this field of childcare provision might become politicised. We might be moving towards a new expectation from the public—a new entitlement for childcare provision. It might become a political football within the local authority. I may be quite wrong in that, but the Minister should think about whether there is any possibility of that happening. That is where I see the role of the Minister being able to step in as helpful. I was grateful for the comments of my noble friend Lady Howarth. To an extent, what the Minister said about inspectors in terms of their experience and what the noble Baroness said about her experience is reassuring. But I am not sure that we should have such strong confidence in these inspections which take place only every three years over the course of one day. Again, it would be helpful to know if there is any significant variability between different kinds of provision and the rates of staff turnover. However, I thank the Minister again for his careful response and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 12 and 13 not moved.]
Secondary information
- Type
- Proceeding contribution
- Reference
- 680 c540GC
- Session
- 2005-06
- Chamber / Committee
- House of Lords Grand Committee
- Subjects
- Childcare Age Childminding Employment Equality Finance Families Inspections Local government Qualifications Low incomes Parents Pre-school education Local government services Quality control Staff Nurseries Standards Training Sure Start programme
- Legislation
- Childcare Bill 2005-06
- Link
- View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk
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