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Childcare Bill

moved Amendment No. 6:"Page 3, line 10, at end insert—" ““(d) young children”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 14, which is grouped. The Government have been supportive of listening to young children, as they have demonstrated by funding organisations to conduct research and development projects. They should now cement that commitment into law. A commitment to listening to the views of young children is yet to be enshrined in law, and the Bill gives us an excellent opportunity to do that for the first time. The Minister expressed great sympathy with the view that the voice of the child is extremely important from top to bottom of the childcare system, which is why I have brought the amendments back today. I want to give him the opportunity to give us any further reassurances that he is able about the Government’s intentions beyond Report. The amendments would place a duty on local authorities to take reasonable steps to ensure that the views of young children are incorporated into the design, delivery and evaluation of services. If the Government have been able strategically to use the voices of young children to influence the development of national policy in the form of the early years foundation stage, there is no reason why local authorities should not also be encouraged by legislation to demonstrate that same commitment to involving children from birth in how the authorities undertake their responsibilities. The early years foundation stage document states:"““EYFS requires those who plan and deliver early years provision to put children first; to listen to them and their parents; to observe what they can do; and to make them the most important influence on planning, observational assessment, routine and staffing””." That should be echoed for local authorities, so that the Bill, when eventually enacted, requires children to be listened to from the beginning to the end of the system and requires those who plan and deliver provision to put them first and to listen to them and their parents. Children Now has published its participation charter, which states:"““Children who are very young, disabled or who have special educational needs have the same right to participate as other children. Services and organisations should be proactive in engaging them, as well as those who are socially or economically disadvantaged, excluded or discriminated against on any basis””." When we discussed that in Grand Committee, the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth of Breckland, pointed out to us that that is not easy. Listening to young children must be done with great care and expertise. Interpreting and feeding back what they say to the authorities requires a very high level of professionalism. That is not a bad thing. The current wording of the Bill ensures that local authorities are limited to taking all reasonable steps to consult the list of groups, to which I want to add young children. That could be reinforced in guidance along with examples of good practice. In Grand Committee, we heard a number of examples where young children had been listened to and great light had been shed on things that were going on in the nursery through the eyes of the children which the practitioners, expert though they were, had not noticed. The additional duty of listening to young children is unlikely to be at any significant added cost, because it is fundamental best practice for early years practitioners, which is what the Bill is trying to achieve anyway. Anecdotal evidence from the workforce has also shown us that implementing a listening culture has made workers in the early childhood field more motivated and therefore more likely to stay in their jobs. That, of course, is what we want—a more sustainable workforce that is likely to be of a higher quality for young children and their families because the workers stay in their jobs long enough to really get to know the children and the families and to deliver a good service to them. Finally, the omission of young children does not sit well with the UK’s obligations under Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or with the outcome of the contribution made by children to society under the Children Act 2004—the Government’s own landmark legislation on children. Given that the Government must report next year on how they are adhering to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, placing the voice of the child in the Bill would be a very good way of demonstrating this Government’s commitment to children’s rights. In our previous debate, the Minister was at pains to talk about the importance of putting the principle of reducing inequalities into the Bill. I think he is quite right. Involving the voice of the child at every stage of planning services for their care and early education is another principle that should be enshrined in this legislation, and I hope that the Minister will either accept the amendments or assure the House, which I know feels very strongly about it, that he intends to table his own amendment either at Third Reading or in another place. I beg to move.