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Childcare Bill

Before the noble Baroness replies, may I say how warmly I welcome this debate. I was delighted when Tim Loughton encouraged the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Childcare to hear from the Oxford Parent-Infant Project. It was a very good presentation. I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Adonis, for writing to me. I was moved by the description given in his letter of the key person approach and how it would support the emotional development of children. I warmly welcome the explicitness with which Birth to Three Matters makes clear the importance of the key person approach, and that this is also being taken forward with the next framework. The difficulty of course is in the implementation. It is far easier for a worker to share children among other workers than to get close and intimate with a child. Especially if workers work in shifts, it is difficult for that relationship to be managed. It is hard to express how difficult that job is. Yesterday, the inspector for early years was asked about the importance of the key person role and how inspectors ensure that the key person role is in place. His response was, ““It is not the job of the inspectors to prescribe what approach practitioners take””. I fear that he has not had a chance to read the new guidance issued last October which states that the key person approach is a supplementary criterion for the minimum standards. It is wonderful that the Government have committed themselves to promulgating this approach; it is very difficult to implement in practice. I thank the Minister again for the information on the number of children in formalised group care. The small sample indicates that last year there was a 4 per cent increase in the number of children under the age of two in such settings. It is good to have this encouraging debate, but the qualification I put on it is that it is so hard to implement the principles we are discussing.