---

Childcare Bill

Perhaps I may respond to my Amendment No. 50 before the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton, decides whether to withdraw her amendment. Before I do so, I should like to say a few words about Amendment No. 49 that are particularly relevant to what the noble Baroness has just said. Local authorities have a duty to ““have regard”” to the need to provide parenting classes. What the Minister said about Amendment No. 49 sounded fine, but she went on to say that local authorities have to ““have regard”” to the guidance. Similarly, the guidance sounds fine, but in my experience the things to which local authorities have to have regard always come further down the list than those for which they have a statutory duty. What I am concerned about is resources. When resources are short, things related to local authorities’ statutory duties always have to come first, while the things to which they only have to have regard slip to the bottom of the list. About 18 months ago I had the pleasure of speaking at a conference of children’s information services officers and there I learnt how very knowledgeable and enthusiastic those people are about their work and about the expanding role they are going to have to play. But I was also made aware of the shortage of resources to do the job. In a period when jobs are expanding, I am concerned that the resources to cover them will not be sufficient. However, I am sure that the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, will have more to say about that. I thank the noble Baroness for what she said in response to Amendment No. 50 and for her assurances about what will be in the guidance. She made it very clear that local authorities will be expected to provide something much broader than parenting classes, which is what I was looking for. There were lots of warm words, but again what I am concerned about is the vehicle for this. Again, of course it will be done by children’s information services. So the comments I have just made expressing my concerns about resources in relation to Amendment No. 49 apply equally to what I seek in Amendment No. 50.