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Childcare Bill

I have added my name to the noble Baroness’s amendment because I think that this is a very important area. An inspection regime always needs a careful balance of objectives. On one hand, you need to encourage proactive responses in providers to establish and maintain a safe and high-quality environment and level of care; on the other, you do not want to be too intrusive and create additional and burdensome work for those providers who are performing well. To help Ofsted achieve that balance, it is vital that the inspectors fully understand what they are looking for in the niche setting of early years childcare provision. The example I have raised in previous debates is that of an inspector who, at the end of his visit to a childcare provider, commented that he did not think the children were very involved in the activity of the nursery. I have ““classroom”” written here, but in view of the debates on ““taught””, I had better not use it. They had not come up to the table to use the materials provided. The carers pointed out that that might have something to do with the fact that there was a man in a grey suit, or a pinstripe suit, sitting at the end of the table, and the children simply did not want to go and use the materials available. That is a classic example that demonstrates a vital need for those who will be inspecting childcare provision under the Bill to have specific experience, training and understanding of the needs of this group of young children and the subsections within it. To go back to my debate on secure attachment, some inspectors might go into a nursery and, if everyone is being very quiet, they might think it is well run and efficient. For young children, however, being very quiet is perhaps the opposite of what they need. They need stimulation. They need to rush around and do things. That is also very important. When I bring back something on attachment, it may well be on the training of inspectors. I am sorry, I have missed the letter from the chief inspector. I cannot think where it might be in my bundle of letters. Clearly it is there somewhere, but I have not seen it. The few paragraphs the Minister has provided the Committee with highlight that, where there is registered childcare on a school site, Ofsted can combine the inspection of childcare with the school inspection, resulting in a single inspection event and a single report every three years. Can the Minister assure us that in these cases the inspector will have relevant training in both the childcare and education aspects? Will she confirm that the inspectors will be reminded firmly that children do not attend formal schooling until around their fifth birthday, and that those involved in childcare provision on the school site should not be assessed in terms of their education?