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Childcare Bill

I thank the Minister for his reply. I hear what he says, particularly about disruptions for children, but I would say the best providers are already providing the service, as I think he acknowledged. The best providers see that this discomfort for children and families is worth the trouble because of the value of having a good team that is well supported and well qualified. The Minister talked about not wishing to incur rigidities in the system. That put me in mind of our earlier debate about the contrast between the Anglophone world and the continental world in terms of, for example, children’s homes. Across the English-speaking world one sees a gross inconsistency in practice in children’s homes—some very good, some very poor—with no principles or underpinning philosophy behind the way they work. On the Continent generally—for example, in Germany, Denmark and Scandinavia—one sees a much more thought-through approach to the work and, typically, practitioners who have been qualified for two or three years in higher education. It is important that the state does not intervene much of the time but sometimes it is important that it does intervene to protect vulnerable children. I shall think further about what the Minister said but I am not altogether comforted by his response. I urge him to consult the Children and Workforce Development Council before Report to see whether its thinking on the workforce might be used in some way to improve the provisions in the Bill. Again, I thank the Minister for his reply.