25/11/2015

:00:00. > :00:15.As we come to the childcare bill, I have to remind the house that Mr

:00:16. > :00:24.Speaker has certified clauses two, four, and six of the childcare bill

:00:25. > :00:29.Lords understanding order number 83 J in relation to England. I further

:00:30. > :00:34.remind the house this does not affect proceedings in the debate on

:00:35. > :00:39.second reading or in committee or at report stage. After report stage, Mr

:00:40. > :00:43.Speaker will consider the bill again for certification and if acquired

:00:44. > :00:48.the legislative grants committee will be asked to consent to

:00:49. > :00:53.certified provisions. The clerk will now proceed to read the orders of

:00:54. > :01:02.the day. Childcare bill Lords, second reading. Secretary of State,

:01:03. > :01:08.Nicky Morgan. Madam Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the bill be now read a

:01:09. > :01:12.second time, I am delighted to be opening the second reading debate of

:01:13. > :01:15.the childcare bill. At the general election, the prime minister

:01:16. > :01:21.promised a Conservative government would give working parents of three

:01:22. > :01:26.and four-year-olds 30 hours of free childcare week. We put the early

:01:27. > :01:32.years at the heart of the manifesto because we know how important these

:01:33. > :01:36.years are for children's school readiness and future educational

:01:37. > :01:41.success. We also know that working families struggle to find flexible

:01:42. > :01:45.affordable and high-quality childcare. For many parents, the

:01:46. > :01:49.challenge is the biggest barrier to work. I am determined and this

:01:50. > :01:52.government is determined to deliver these measures which will give

:01:53. > :01:57.children the best start in life, support parents to work, and as a

:01:58. > :02:03.result allow our economy and society to prosper. We brought forward this

:02:04. > :02:07.bill so we can give working parents the extra 15 hours free childcare in

:02:08. > :02:12.addition to the current 15 hours of free early education for all three

:02:13. > :02:16.and four-year-olds. The 30 hours that will give hard-working parents

:02:17. > :02:21.a real choice to earn more by going to work core working more hours if

:02:22. > :02:26.they want to do so. We have not wasted any time on delivering on

:02:27. > :02:29.this commitment. Just one month after the election we introduced

:02:30. > :02:34.legislation to the other place and launched a review into the cost of

:02:35. > :02:37.providing childcare, something providers had long been calling for

:02:38. > :02:46.to inform a fair and sustainable funding rate. I thank her for giving

:02:47. > :02:49.way. She rightly says she wants to make sure her measures are

:02:50. > :02:54.delivering for all children, how will she make sure that this bill

:02:55. > :02:58.delivers for disabled children in terms of their access to childcare

:02:59. > :03:05.which can be so important for helping parents who want to go back

:03:06. > :03:12.to work? I thank her for that question, she raises an important

:03:13. > :03:17.point. We want local authorities to ensure they provide places for all

:03:18. > :03:22.children, those with disabilities and those without. Of course the

:03:23. > :03:28.fact this childcare bill and 15 hours additional is part of a

:03:29. > :03:32.package of childcare measures being introduced by this government. The

:03:33. > :03:39.Chancellor has taught today about the fact we are spending over ?1

:03:40. > :03:45.billion more on child care every year over the rest of the

:03:46. > :03:49.parliament. So, we will be conducting early years funding

:03:50. > :03:52.formula reviews and we want to understand how providers cater for

:03:53. > :03:58.children with disabilities and special needs as part of that. I

:03:59. > :04:02.also point out that the tax-free childcare proposals mean the maximum

:04:03. > :04:10.amount parents can pay into the childcare counts is doubled and they

:04:11. > :04:18.can use the money for children with disabilities up to age 18. I hope

:04:19. > :04:22.she agrees we are offering a comprehensive package of childcare

:04:23. > :04:29.support for all children and families.

:04:30. > :04:37.I am very grateful for what the Secretary of State has said. Can she

:04:38. > :04:40.reassured nursery providers in my constituency that there will be a

:04:41. > :04:46.fairer funding formula? We have heard that a few moments ago, but

:04:47. > :04:51.for childcare providers, this is important. I am delighted to hear

:04:52. > :04:56.about the work of the nursery my honourable friend talks about. The

:04:57. > :05:01.national funding formula review will apply not only to schools but also

:05:02. > :05:07.to early years, and it will include the high needs block of funding as

:05:08. > :05:12.well. Could I ask my right honourable friend, it is good that

:05:13. > :05:16.this doubling of hours for childcare is happening. How will we ensure

:05:17. > :05:23.that the quality of the childcare that our children will receive will

:05:24. > :05:30.be doubled up? How will we ensure that there will be sufficient

:05:31. > :05:34.places, and of the right quality? He raises an important point. We are

:05:35. > :05:39.doubling the entitlement, and we know that the sector has already

:05:40. > :05:45.responded, with the introduction of free places for two-year roles, for

:05:46. > :05:50.the most disadvantaged. The sector responded by creating an extra

:05:51. > :05:58.230,000 places in the last Parliament. Coming on to talk about

:05:59. > :06:04.how families will respond to this entitlement, and how they will use

:06:05. > :06:08.both -- those additional hours. We know there is capacity in the

:06:09. > :06:13.system. I wonder if the right honourable lady could correct me if

:06:14. > :06:19.I am wrong, which is the maximum amount of money in this statement

:06:20. > :06:29.will be ?5,000 per child. If it is term time only, it is 1140 hours. In

:06:30. > :06:36.my constituency, where costs are ?9 an hour, the amount per hour is not

:06:37. > :06:42.going to be sufficient. I will come on to talk about hourly rate. Of

:06:43. > :06:46.course, as part of the funding formula review, we want to make sure

:06:47. > :06:54.that as much money is going to the front line as possible. Providers

:06:55. > :06:58.are already working with them. The Secretary of State is right to talk

:06:59. > :07:03.about the fairer funding formula, which is vital for nurseries. What

:07:04. > :07:07.measures is she putting in place to guarantee that local authorities

:07:08. > :07:13.will pass on all this extra funding to the nursery providers and not top

:07:14. > :07:18.slice it? Honourable gentleman is right. We want to see as much money

:07:19. > :07:23.going to the front line as possible, and that will be one of the

:07:24. > :07:30.questions we will be asking as part of the funding formula review. I

:07:31. > :07:36.will make some progress. I want to talk about rates. The honourable

:07:37. > :07:40.lady opposite is on the record of saying that she is pleased to see

:07:41. > :07:45.that the government is offering more support for early years and would

:07:46. > :07:49.like to see our policies turned into reality. Today she has the chance to

:07:50. > :07:54.demonstrate her support by supporting this bill tonight, and it

:07:55. > :07:58.looks like she is going to be doing that. I welcome the support of the

:07:59. > :08:02.party opposite. There were questions party opposite. There were questions

:08:03. > :08:07.raised in the other place about why this bill was introduced so early.

:08:08. > :08:14.Why would we wait? It is clear from the interest of members today how

:08:15. > :08:17.successful and import of the existing 15 hours offer is in

:08:18. > :08:23.supporting better outcomes for children. The latest OECD study

:08:24. > :08:37.reminds us that the UK is one of 13 OECD countries in which more than 9%

:08:38. > :08:41.of children aged three -- more than a high percentage of children are

:08:42. > :08:49.involved in early years education. Free childcare is something that

:08:50. > :08:55.many parents want. We know that this is what parents want because we have

:08:56. > :08:59.listened to them. My Department consulted with nearly 20,000 members

:09:00. > :09:04.of the public and 750 employers. Those who took part told us they

:09:05. > :09:14.wanted more than 30 hours of free childcare. I heard this myself on

:09:15. > :09:18.the visit to Royals Royce -- Rolls Royce. Employees talked to us about

:09:19. > :09:23.childcare decisions and what they are looking for with the entitlement

:09:24. > :09:28.of 30 hours of free childcare. I would like to thank them for sharing

:09:29. > :09:33.their views. They want more flexibility and choice in how they

:09:34. > :09:36.can access childcare. I want to ensure there is high quality and

:09:37. > :09:41.affordable childcare available to those parents, to reduce pressure on

:09:42. > :09:47.household budgets and ensure they are better to plan for their future.

:09:48. > :09:51.I am confident we have a child care sector that will deliver. The

:09:52. > :09:59.childcare market is flourishing and has grown by 230,000 places since

:10:00. > :10:06.2009. Would my right honourable friend agree that the 130 inch

:10:07. > :10:09.childminders who create hundreds of places in Portsmouth make a big

:10:10. > :10:13.difference to the quality of childcare, and will there be

:10:14. > :10:18.measures put in place to support them, with administration in

:10:19. > :10:24.particular? Childcare I childminders is very much part of the respond.

:10:25. > :10:30.They are popular and flexible, and one of the things we have done in

:10:31. > :10:33.the course of the last Parliament is offered the childcare business

:10:34. > :10:37.support grants, which allows people to set up in business as

:10:38. > :10:42.childminders, often women, often setting up in business for the first

:10:43. > :10:48.time. We welcome their contribution to this market. Providers have

:10:49. > :10:50.demonstrated what they can do with nearly 60% of eligible children

:10:51. > :10:57.accessing a place at the beginning of this year. Now we will increase

:10:58. > :11:01.our overall investment in the childcare sector, and set an

:11:02. > :11:08.increased funding rate, which will enable providers to deliver the

:11:09. > :11:12.care. The Chancellor of the care has just set out in his Autumn

:11:13. > :11:18.Statement, and could not have demonstrated more clearly the

:11:19. > :11:24.government's commitment to childcare. We have invested billions

:11:25. > :11:29.of pounds to supporting parents with childcare. This government will go

:11:30. > :11:35.even further, and invest a record amount in childcare. We will provide

:11:36. > :11:39.more support than any other government in history, including tax

:11:40. > :11:44.free childcare being rolled out for 2017, and more support for families

:11:45. > :11:49.on Universal Credit. Working families will be entitled to receive

:11:50. > :11:54.an unprecedented increase in childcare support, saving up to

:11:55. > :11:59.?5,000 per child per year for working families. We will be

:12:00. > :12:04.investing more than ?1 billion a year to fund our manifesto pledge

:12:05. > :12:10.for 30 hours of childcare for working parents of three and

:12:11. > :12:14.four-year-olds. We were the only party at the general election to

:12:15. > :12:19.commit to raising the average funding rate paid to providers.

:12:20. > :12:28.Today we are confirming we will do so. I will just make some progress.

:12:29. > :12:32.The increase in funding includes nearly ?300 million for a

:12:33. > :12:38.significant uplift to the rate paid with two, three and four-year-olds

:12:39. > :12:45.entitlements. This will introduce a new rate paid to providers, which

:12:46. > :12:52.will increase by 30p an hour. ?4 88 is the amount for three and

:12:53. > :12:58.four-year-olds, and ?5 39 is the rate for two. We have set a rate of

:12:59. > :13:02.funding that providers need to deliver high-quality childcare, and

:13:03. > :13:08.delivering good value to the taxpayer. We will consult on a

:13:09. > :13:12.package of reforms to improve efficiency in the sector. I can

:13:13. > :13:19.confirm that the early years agreement will not change, it is

:13:20. > :13:22.worth ?20 million in 2015-16, helping to ensure that three and

:13:23. > :13:28.four-year-old from disadvantaged families have the best start in

:13:29. > :13:32.life. The increase in funding is supported by the robust review into

:13:33. > :13:36.childcare carried out in the last six months. That review is being

:13:37. > :13:41.published today. I would like to thank those who responded to the

:13:42. > :13:46.call for evidence as part of that review, and those who attended

:13:47. > :13:52.discussions. The participation engagement for organisations

:13:53. > :13:57.including the Independent schools Council and other key partners meant

:13:58. > :14:02.we could fully understand the concerns and arguments around the

:14:03. > :14:07.funding of the entitlement. We are committed to ensuring funding is

:14:08. > :14:11.allocated in the fairest way. Next year, we will consult on an early

:14:12. > :14:16.years national funding formula which will give due consideration to

:14:17. > :14:24.disadvantaged children, and special needs funding for the early years. I

:14:25. > :14:31.remain genuinely confused by this. I hear the words fairer funding

:14:32. > :14:36.review, but does that mean that in Islington, where the rate is ?9 40

:14:37. > :14:42.per hour, will money be taken from other barriers to pay for the

:14:43. > :14:48.childcare within Islington? Less than ?4 50 an hour is not going to

:14:49. > :14:54.pay for the amount childcare costs in Islington. These are not my

:14:55. > :14:58.figures. I suggest that the honourable lady looks at the copy of

:14:59. > :15:03.the review which is being published as I speak. The ?9 an hour figure

:15:04. > :15:09.isn't one that we recognise. It has not been made clear to us during the

:15:10. > :15:17.course of the review. The average rate is going to go up to ?4 88 for

:15:18. > :15:22.three and four-year-olds, and ?5 99 for two-year-olds. We are confident

:15:23. > :15:27.that that amount of money will be able to increase and provide

:15:28. > :15:32.high-quality childcare for children in Islington or elsewhere. The

:15:33. > :15:35.honourable lady asked about the funding formula review. That is

:15:36. > :15:41.about making sure that as much money goes to the front line as possible.

:15:42. > :15:47.I hope she has also had a conversation with Islington council

:15:48. > :15:54.to make sure that they are passing on and providing sufficient places

:15:55. > :16:00.that are needed for childcare, and pass on as much of the money as they

:16:01. > :16:03.can. We have talked about top slicing earlier. Front line

:16:04. > :16:12.providers need to get the money that we are providing. The statistics

:16:13. > :16:19.that I am quoting, the ?9 50, is the daycare trust numbers. The Secretary

:16:20. > :16:23.of State must be aware that there are boroughs where the prices are

:16:24. > :16:28.much more than ?4 50 an hour, and they simply will not be able to

:16:29. > :16:33.provide childcare, given the amount of money that is being provided

:16:34. > :16:38.today. It is the bill is going to enter committee, and there will be

:16:39. > :16:45.debates on this. The evidence -based review does not support the figure

:16:46. > :16:50.that she has talked about. She might be talking about the additional rate

:16:51. > :16:54.that some providers will charge, not for the free entitlement. We are

:16:55. > :16:58.talking about the free and title and, the hundreds of millions of

:16:59. > :17:04.pounds that this government is going to spend of hard earned tax payers

:17:05. > :17:09.money to ensure that families get the support for childcare that they

:17:10. > :17:15.need. On the note about councils siphoning off a bit of the money,

:17:16. > :17:19.that happens in Wiltshire, and I welcome that we will prevent that.

:17:20. > :17:25.What measures will be put in place regarding that in the future? Part

:17:26. > :17:30.of the reason for having the funding formula review, and this is part of

:17:31. > :17:35.a wider review for school funding as well, is to make sure that we talked

:17:36. > :17:40.to local authorities and others receiving the money to find out the

:17:41. > :17:46.best way. In my opinion, the best way to do that is to ensure maximum

:17:47. > :17:49.transparency, so people know how much money is given by the

:17:50. > :17:54.government, how much the local authorities are receiving, and how

:17:55. > :17:58.much is being passed on. It will be very clear to businesses, families,

:17:59. > :18:04.and those potentially paying additional costs. We need to have

:18:05. > :18:12.that review and make sure we get contributions across the country. I

:18:13. > :18:15.will give way for the last time. She has been very generous. Could she

:18:16. > :18:22.confirmed that this additional money is going to be ring-fenced? I am a

:18:23. > :18:25.bit uncertain about that. I assumed the money would be ring-fenced

:18:26. > :18:31.specifically to go to nursery providers. The money for childcare

:18:32. > :18:38.providers is paid to the local authorities. This money is paid for

:18:39. > :18:42.the provision of childcare. It goes back to the point I have been making

:18:43. > :18:48.about transparency, and needing to know how much of that money is being

:18:49. > :18:51.spent, and how much is reaching the front line. We could be talking

:18:52. > :19:00.about childcare providers, but also schools. Let me turn to the funding

:19:01. > :19:06.review clause, which was added to the bill in the other place. Now

:19:07. > :19:11.that we have carried out a substantial funding review, we want

:19:12. > :19:15.to get on with implementing this free entitlement. The first clause

:19:16. > :19:21.in this bill was to establish an independent funding review before

:19:22. > :19:27.the bill comes into force. This will put that early implementation at

:19:28. > :19:30.risk. Labour peers were willing to deliberately delay these important

:19:31. > :19:36.measures by asking for a further funding review.

:19:37. > :19:44.They maybe feeling embarrassed as the Chancellor has debunched all

:19:45. > :19:47.their -- debunked all that you are scaremongering about funding. She

:19:48. > :19:53.has the opportunity to redeem herself, back this bill and help us

:19:54. > :19:58.to over turn the amendments which seek to delay this. If she does not,

:19:59. > :20:02.I do not think that working parents will look kindly on her attempts to

:20:03. > :20:12.delay their access to more free child care. The Government delivers

:20:13. > :20:16.on its promises. This gives 30 hours of free child care. Local

:20:17. > :20:19.authorities deliver the first 15 hours of free education for three

:20:20. > :20:27.and four-year-olds with a take up rate of 96%. While the bill places

:20:28. > :20:33.the duty to secure free child care on the the Secretary of State, I

:20:34. > :20:38.will discharge it through English local authorities. This Government

:20:39. > :20:42.is committed to working with local authorities, as we develop the

:20:43. > :20:46.delivery of the programme, through early implementation stage and

:20:47. > :20:49.beyond into the full roll out of the system from September 2017. We have

:20:50. > :20:52.been work with the local authority government association and I would

:20:53. > :20:58.like to thank them for the work they have done with us and for their

:20:59. > :21:02.co-operation. Around 1800 local authorities and providers have

:21:03. > :21:08.registered their interest to take part in the early pilots. There are

:21:09. > :21:12.huge opportunities to test capacity, flexibility and innovation and make

:21:13. > :21:15.sure all eligible children, including those with special

:21:16. > :21:22.educational needs are able to access the 30 hours offer. As part of early

:21:23. > :21:26.implementation, we want to encourage innovative approaches for work

:21:27. > :21:29.parents whose children are disabled. Early years providers should be able

:21:30. > :21:36.to meet the needs of all children in their care. In the last Parliament

:21:37. > :21:41.we delivered the most significant reforms for 30 years, putting early

:21:42. > :21:47.identification integration at its heart. We are committed to continue

:21:48. > :21:53.making a difference to families through early years provision. We

:21:54. > :22:00.encourage providers to offer the hours at the times for working

:22:01. > :22:05.families and those work outside 9 to 5. The Government recognises that

:22:06. > :22:09.the need for child care does not end when a child starts school. So we

:22:10. > :22:14.are giving more working parents something that the best schools

:22:15. > :22:19.already done. We will give parents the right to request child care in

:22:20. > :22:26.the form of breakfast and after school clubs and holiday care at

:22:27. > :22:30.their child's school. I welcome the news about before and after school

:22:31. > :22:35.club. I wonder if she will guarantee that parents will be able to access

:22:36. > :22:39.those places. I have recently lost all my breakfast club facilities for

:22:40. > :22:44.both my children and was offered only one morning a week on two

:22:45. > :22:48.separate weeks for my children. I wonder if she can guarantee parents

:22:49. > :22:56.like me that I will be able to get that? The honourable lady has set

:22:57. > :23:05.out the problem that we are trying to solve and the - she and other

:23:06. > :23:10.parents will be able to ask to contact the governing body. There is

:23:11. > :23:16.need for the school to make the school available for before and

:23:17. > :23:20.after school actics -- activities. That also extends to having

:23:21. > :23:28.provision during the school holidays, that is another time when

:23:29. > :23:31.it is difficult for working parents to juggle their parental

:23:32. > :23:35.responsibilities and work. And the child free tax care, I don't know

:23:36. > :23:41.the age of the honourable lady's children. That would extend up to

:23:42. > :23:46.the age of 12 and could pay into the account and the Government would top

:23:47. > :23:50.up that up to ?2,000 a year and she could use that for provision. In my

:23:51. > :23:54.experience, when schools and others realise there is a parental demand

:23:55. > :24:02.that actually they do want to respond to that, they know that is

:24:03. > :24:05.something parents want. It is a great delight to see more Labour

:24:06. > :24:09.policy implemented by the Government. Can she confirm this

:24:10. > :24:14.afternoon when she talks about the provisions that schools can make

:24:15. > :24:23.that she has allowed the Chancellor to deliver a ?6 hundred million cut

:24:24. > :24:26.to academies budgets. First, I should the honourable gentleman

:24:27. > :24:30.should be pleased that we are actually, this party, on the side of

:24:31. > :24:34.working people. He will know his own front bench are not. If he would

:24:35. > :24:39.like to join us he would be welcome. His party when he was the shadow

:24:40. > :24:44.education Secretary did not commit to increasing the funding for early

:24:45. > :24:49.years in the way we have done. We can have a wider debate about the

:24:50. > :24:53.schools budget. That is not the subject for debate today. But we are

:24:54. > :24:57.not only committed to protecting the schools budget in real terms, by the

:24:58. > :25:02.end of the Parliament the resource budget will be higher than it was at

:25:03. > :25:06.the start, something that the honourable gentleman's policies

:25:07. > :25:13.would never have delivered. I'm going to move on for the last time.

:25:14. > :25:21.I will stifbg to the money -- stick to the money. When this side was

:25:22. > :25:26.promising 25 hours a week term time only, I as understand it the

:25:27. > :25:32.minister at the time said it would cost ?1.6 billion. Isn't the problem

:25:33. > :25:36.the honourable lady has is she is missing a billion pounds and can't

:25:37. > :25:41.cover child care at the cost it is rally going to cost? Yet again I

:25:42. > :25:45.don't agree with the honourable lady's figures. The point is she is

:25:46. > :25:50.Mickist missing the additional help that we are also giving to families

:25:51. > :25:53.through tax free child care and universal credit, which net each

:25:54. > :25:58.other off and of course she has already I think she needs to do and

:25:59. > :26:03.look at funding review and she will see the response from those working

:26:04. > :26:07.in the sector as to the rate they have been asking for and the reason

:26:08. > :26:11.why the figures have been arrived at today, which I have just mentioned

:26:12. > :26:15.which are an increase as well. She also should take note of the fact

:26:16. > :26:22.that we are going to be spending a billion more on child care each year

:26:23. > :26:30.in the course of Parliament. I want to make progress. Now, let me turn

:26:31. > :26:36.to eligibility for this child care package. One of the key messages

:26:37. > :26:40.from parents was a desire for a simpler system. We confirmed in the

:26:41. > :26:44.other place that eligibility for the 30 hour entitlement will align with

:26:45. > :26:54.tax free child care. As the Chancellor set out, parents will be

:26:55. > :27:01.able to access the 30 hour titlement if they work 16 a week. Including

:27:02. > :27:06.those who are self employed. In the case of lone parents, the same

:27:07. > :27:11.threshold will apply and this makes is a significant offer and anyone

:27:12. > :27:20.earning more than ?107 a week at the minimum wage will be eligible. As

:27:21. > :27:27.many parents will enbit fit, it makes sense that parents can apply

:27:28. > :27:34.for both schemes. This will provide a simple way to access both seems,

:27:35. > :27:37.saving parents and providers time. Families are complex and different

:27:38. > :27:44.circumstances need to be taken into account. The free hours will be

:27:45. > :27:50.available where both parents are employed, but one or both are away

:27:51. > :27:52.from the home place. This will ensure continuity and limit

:27:53. > :27:57.disruption for children and providers. The additional free hours

:27:58. > :28:00.will be available where one parent is employed, but the other has

:28:01. > :28:04.substantial caring responsibilities or one parent is disabled. While we

:28:05. > :28:10.are making a commitment to investing in the early years, we are doing so

:28:11. > :28:12.when we are facing difficult seditions -- decisions. At the

:28:13. > :28:17.centre has been the belief that it is right for those with the broadest

:28:18. > :28:23.shoulders to bear the greatest burden and we intend to introduce an

:28:24. > :28:28.income cap where parents who earn more than ?100,000 will not be able

:28:29. > :28:32.to access the additional entitlement. We want parents to make

:28:33. > :28:40.informed choices and it is vital that parents have easy access to

:28:41. > :28:43.information about the child care that is available. So through the

:28:44. > :28:46.bill we have introduced a requirement on local authorities to

:28:47. > :28:56.publish information and advice for parents on child care in their area.

:28:57. > :28:59.Child care's digital app which allows parents to search for free

:29:00. > :29:02.child care will make it easier for parents to find out about high

:29:03. > :29:08.quality and flexible child care places. So parents can access the

:29:09. > :29:13.information they need to find the care that is right for their child.

:29:14. > :29:17.The message and the measures in this bill are clear. The Conservative

:29:18. > :29:22.Party is the party of working people. And this Government is on

:29:23. > :29:27.the side of working parents. Through passage of bill we will fulfil our

:29:28. > :29:30.pledge to do more to ease the pressure on working families, by

:29:31. > :29:34.supporting them with the cost of child care. We are pushing forward

:29:35. > :29:38.legislation to get them that support quickly and it should be supported

:29:39. > :29:41.from all sides of the chamber. I look forward to listening to

:29:42. > :29:47.contributions from members of the House and I believe that the

:29:48. > :29:51.principles behind the bill are ones that everyone will support. The

:29:52. > :29:57.under-Secretary and I look forward to working with all members on this

:29:58. > :30:09.bill. The question is that the bill be read a second time. Lucy Powell.

:30:10. > :30:14.I rise to support this bill at second reading. On this side of the

:30:15. > :30:18.House we have a proud record on child care and enabling work to

:30:19. > :30:22.return to work. We introduced free child care for three and

:30:23. > :30:28.four-year-olds and delivered the first and only child care strategy

:30:29. > :30:31.across Government and created sure start centres, expanding nurseries

:30:32. > :30:39.and more than doubled child care places. We increased maternity leave

:30:40. > :30:46.from 12 weeks to 12 months and increased maternity pay and

:30:47. > :30:52.introduced the right to request flexible working and gave help with

:30:53. > :30:57.child care. Child care was a free part of our plans to support

:30:58. > :31:03.families. We welcome any investment in child care. I am pleased the

:31:04. > :31:07.government now accept that supply side funding is a more effective way

:31:08. > :31:10.of helping parents with the cost of child care and controlling prices

:31:11. > :31:17.and increasing quality. Something that I have long argued for. But for

:31:18. > :31:21.all ther trumpeted of Government achievements, their record tells a

:31:22. > :31:24.different story. Financial support for child care for most families

:31:25. > :31:32.fell in the last Parliament. In that time child care costs rocketed by a

:31:33. > :31:37.third. Up over ?1,500 since 2010. The pre-election promise of tax free

:31:38. > :31:42.child care remains undelivered and early years places have fallen by

:31:43. > :31:47.40,000 since 2009. The two-year-old offer while a good poll

:31:48. > :31:50.circumstances remains undersubscribed and sure start

:31:51. > :31:55.centres have gone to wall in many areas. Even the Prime Minister

:31:56. > :32:02.disagrees with his own Government's record on sure start. I welcome the

:32:03. > :32:07.U-turn on tax credits, but cuts have hit families hard. The story of the

:32:08. > :32:13.last Parliament is one of reducing support for working family, child

:32:14. > :32:22.care costs going up and the gender gap remaining stuck for the first

:32:23. > :32:29.time in 15 years. She mentioned cuts to child tax credit. Does she accept

:32:30. > :32:33.it is unfair and unjust for nine out of ten families, even members of

:32:34. > :32:38.Parliament to be eligible for child tax benefits. Well most families

:32:39. > :32:43.under their plans will be eligible for support with child care, so the

:32:44. > :32:50.point being if I may say that the Government took away many of the

:32:51. > :32:54.support that many families relied on, financial support are now

:32:55. > :32:58.reintroducing it by different means. Today's claim of significant

:32:59. > :33:06.resource for child care belie the reality. Famy were promised tax free

:33:07. > :33:09.child care, but it is going to be another two years behind schedule

:33:10. > :33:14.and the three and four-year-old entitlement, which is due in autumn

:33:15. > :33:20.2017 still has funding question marks as we have heard from speakers

:33:21. > :33:26.today. So any parent at the last election with a two, three, or

:33:27. > :33:30.four-year-old might have expected to receive additional support. Yet none

:33:31. > :33:35.of families will receive an extra penny. As their children will have

:33:36. > :33:40.passed the eligibility ages by the time the policies are introduced.

:33:41. > :33:46.Child care is vital to our future success for two reasons. Firstly, a

:33:47. > :33:52.growing economy, through enabling parents to work and secondly to

:33:53. > :33:56.close the developmental gap preschool, critical to educational

:33:57. > :34:00.achievement. High quality, flexible child care is critical for the

:34:01. > :34:05.economy. We have made great strides in the last 20 years, but important

:34:06. > :34:07.policy challenges remain. On maternal employment rates,

:34:08. > :34:14.particularly for mothers with children aged between one and four,

:34:15. > :34:19.are poor come peered with other OECD countries. Over a third of mothers

:34:20. > :34:23.who want to work are unable to do, because of child care costs and two

:34:24. > :34:27.thirds of mothers would like to work more hours but are unable to do so,

:34:28. > :34:31.because of unaffordable child care bills. This is particularly true for

:34:32. > :34:33.second earners as the resolution foundation and the IPPR have

:34:34. > :34:54.illustrated. Once you hit the age of 40, the pay

:34:55. > :34:58.gap can be stark. Pressures on family budgets have increased.

:34:59. > :35:04.Single earner households are now more likely to be in poverty. So to

:35:05. > :35:09.boost our economy and give families the chance of a decent job and

:35:10. > :35:14.income, childcare investment is essential. But high-quality

:35:15. > :35:19.childcare is essential to. We know that many of the most disadvantaged

:35:20. > :35:24.five-year-old start school 18 months behind their peers. Wood quality

:35:25. > :35:30.childcare can close this gap and give children a good foundation for

:35:31. > :35:36.school and later life. Sometimes, these two aims of economic output

:35:37. > :35:40.and early education require different solutions. Sometimes,

:35:41. > :35:46.seeking to improve one element can come at the expense of the other. So

:35:47. > :35:50.providing support like extra free hours is a good way of delivering

:35:51. > :35:56.both. Tax-free childcare is designed to put cash in parents pockets, and

:35:57. > :36:02.does not contain levers to deliver quality or control prices. The

:36:03. > :36:10.two-year-old offer aims to reduce inequalities. The extension of the

:36:11. > :36:13.15 hour offer to 30 hours should be about delivering both objectives,

:36:14. > :36:22.but this requires quality and funding. We support this bill, but

:36:23. > :36:27.there are a number of challenges with government's plans, and it is

:36:28. > :36:31.right that we scrutinise them. This childcare policy needs to be

:36:32. > :36:37.considered in the context of the totality of childcare support, which

:36:38. > :36:41.is complex. Overall, support has fallen for families while costs have

:36:42. > :36:47.gone up. Any measures like this should be robust we analysed for the

:36:48. > :36:55.impact on the market in which they operate, including the impact on

:36:56. > :36:59.price, places and quality. Put simply, high-quality, affordable

:37:00. > :37:03.childcare is not cheap. Attempts by government to cut corners will

:37:04. > :37:08.ultimately fail. At the heart of this bill is a serious funding gap,

:37:09. > :37:16.and today's announcements only go some way to answering these.

:37:17. > :37:21.Previously, the bill lacked substance and clarity about funding.

:37:22. > :37:28.When ministers first announced the offer, they said it would cost ?350

:37:29. > :37:35.million. This figure was pie in the sky, and has been revised recently

:37:36. > :37:43.to ?640 million. However, a ?1 billion funding gap has been

:37:44. > :37:48.identified in the plans. We welcome today's announcement, which shows

:37:49. > :37:52.the government understands there is a funding shortfall. However, we

:37:53. > :37:58.will have to interrogate this further as the bill proceeds. The

:37:59. > :38:04.raid still remains below the true cost of childcare. The switching of

:38:05. > :38:10.money from reducing those who are entitled to the extra support to

:38:11. > :38:15.provide funds for the three and 4-year-old offer is a switch spend,

:38:16. > :38:22.and still leaves a shortfall. Families where one parent works

:38:23. > :38:26.around 15 hours a week will rightly be disappointed that they are no

:38:27. > :38:31.longer eligible for this support. She is right to reduce the

:38:32. > :38:37.entitlement at the top end of the salary scale to ?100,000 per

:38:38. > :38:44.parents, but Shannon -- can she clarify how this funding will be

:38:45. > :38:48.allocated? The government's failure to adequately fund the free offer

:38:49. > :38:52.could have far reaching implications to the childcare market. There has

:38:53. > :38:57.been a review which the honourable lady will not have had the

:38:58. > :39:01.opportunity to see yet. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has

:39:02. > :39:05.announced, and the Secretary of State has identified, that there

:39:06. > :39:08.will be a cap. The CD as she identifies must be out of date,

:39:09. > :39:23.because they do not take into account the review. The figures.

:39:24. > :39:28.With... Nor has she seen it, with respect. She misunderstands the

:39:29. > :39:33.nature of the market. The hourly rate which is paid to nurseries by

:39:34. > :39:38.the local authorities is not a cap on the cost of childcare, it is a

:39:39. > :39:42.cap on the amount the nursery can claim. The true cost of the

:39:43. > :39:47.childcare is significantly more in places like Islington. The true cost

:39:48. > :39:55.of that childcare can often be as high as ?9 per hour. In nurseries in

:39:56. > :40:01.my own constituency it can be considerably higher than the hourly

:40:02. > :40:04.rate. What happens is, the private providers cross subsidise from the

:40:05. > :40:09.free offer that they then offered to parents with paying out was that

:40:10. > :40:15.other parents pay for. She might look puzzled. I know a considerable

:40:16. > :40:23.amount about this subject, having been the shadow childcare response

:40:24. > :40:27.person for two years. There are major problems with the childcare

:40:28. > :40:35.market, even if you increase the hourly rate by 30p, and even if you

:40:36. > :40:42.use the early years pupil premium to cross subsidise, taking money from

:40:43. > :40:47.elsewhere. I thank the honourable member for giving way. The cost of

:40:48. > :40:52.childcare review, undertaken by the Department over six months, had 2000

:40:53. > :40:58.responses, including from all the sector representatives. The hourly

:40:59. > :41:02.rates that have been announced today reflect the data that was given us

:41:03. > :41:07.by the sector, including the profit and loss accounts of actual

:41:08. > :41:12.providers. I would encourage her to look at that. Of course I will look

:41:13. > :41:16.at it, and perhaps next time we are having a second reading of a debate

:41:17. > :41:21.where funding is so critical, ministers opposite might care to let

:41:22. > :41:25.the opposite front edges have sight of that information before we

:41:26. > :41:34.embark. There still remain key issues here about the ability of the

:41:35. > :41:38.vast majority of providers in this sector to deliver these free hours,

:41:39. > :41:45.notwithstanding the challenges that remain for support. Reference has

:41:46. > :41:52.been made to the cost of childcare review, which we have been told that

:41:53. > :41:55.6000 people have put into it. It is yet to be found in the library,

:41:56. > :42:01.because there are people looking for it. It is online but it is taking a

:42:02. > :42:04.certain amount of time to print off. So we have not been able to look at

:42:05. > :42:12.it in advance of the debate, or during it. It really is a farce

:42:13. > :42:18.having this second reading now. I do agree with the honourable lady. She

:42:19. > :42:24.makes a very good point. It doesn't get away from the fact that the

:42:25. > :42:34.overall cost of this policy has a considerable funding shortfall. This

:42:35. > :42:39.is regardless of the hourly rate. I beg your pardon, the Minister

:42:40. > :42:43.himself said, when the Labour Party announced, before the last

:42:44. > :42:48.election, that we were seeking to increase the number of free hours

:42:49. > :42:56.from 15 to 25 hours, the then Minister for childcare said that

:42:57. > :43:02.policy would cost one point ?2 billion. -- ?1.2 billion. That is

:43:03. > :43:06.greater than the amount that the same government has put forward for

:43:07. > :43:11.an additional five hours a week of funding. There are big funding gaps

:43:12. > :43:18.that the government still has to to answer, regardless of the hourly

:43:19. > :43:24.rate being paid. House of Commons library analysis has shown that

:43:25. > :43:29.there are over 44,000 fewer early year childcare places today than

:43:30. > :43:34.there were in 2009. Six in ten local authorities tell us they do not have

:43:35. > :43:38.adequate supply of childcare for local parents. There is a downward

:43:39. > :43:44.trend in childcare places which should cause concern. Private and

:43:45. > :43:49.voluntary providers make up the vast majority of childcare places in

:43:50. > :43:54.England. If there is not adequate resource for these nurseries, they

:43:55. > :43:58.will simply not offer these free hours. I welcome the increase in the

:43:59. > :44:03.hourly rate, but questions remain about how the places will be

:44:04. > :44:08.provided, and without an increase in supply, costs will continue to rise

:44:09. > :44:12.for parents. Parents will also be very concerned that the quality of

:44:13. > :44:16.childcare could be damaged by the failure of the government to

:44:17. > :44:22.adequately support their proposals. There is a wealth of evidence, from

:44:23. > :44:26.the education select committee and Ofsted, that identifies the strong

:44:27. > :44:32.links between outstanding provision and the best qualified staff. For

:44:33. > :44:37.childcare is worse than no childcare, and can be detrimental to

:44:38. > :44:42.development. Unless the government has answers on adequate funding, the

:44:43. > :44:48.result will be a fall in quality provision. Can she give an assurance

:44:49. > :44:53.today that they need these proposals there are no plans to reduce

:44:54. > :44:59.quality, increase ratios or lower requirements for those who can offer

:45:00. > :45:03.the free entitlement? Insufficient funds and poor delivery could have

:45:04. > :45:08.the opposite effect the government wants, and lead to fewer places,

:45:09. > :45:12.poorer quality and higher cost for parents. The government has ample

:45:13. > :45:18.time to address these concerns before their policy is due to be

:45:19. > :45:22.introduced in autumn 2017. We want to work with ministers to ensure

:45:23. > :45:26.their plans are credible and affordable. Part of the problem is

:45:27. > :45:31.the government has no clear strategy for trials care. I hope she will

:45:32. > :45:36.reflect on this and come back to the house in due course with an

:45:37. > :45:42.overarching childcare strategy. Would the minister like to

:45:43. > :45:48.intervene? No. Happy for him to come forward and say he has a childcare

:45:49. > :45:54.strategy! We will continue to support the progression of this bill

:45:55. > :45:56.through parliament, but it is the secretary's responsibility to

:45:57. > :46:03.satisfy this house, the other place and parents that this plan for

:46:04. > :46:07.childcare is deliverable, sustainable and affordable. She must

:46:08. > :46:11.set out her funding plans and reassure us through the passage of

:46:12. > :46:17.this bill. There are other questions, such as who will be

:46:18. > :46:21.liable to prove that parents are working, and sufficient hours, and

:46:22. > :46:25.how disabled children will be supported? I want this policy to

:46:26. > :46:31.work. I wanted to be a success, and I want it to have real meaning for

:46:32. > :46:36.parents, and to ensure that children are supported in having a great

:46:37. > :46:39.start in life. I look forward to working with her on this, and I

:46:40. > :46:46.recommend that we support this bill this evening. Thank you, Madam

:46:47. > :46:48.Deputy Speaker. Childcare is not a political football, and I really

:46:49. > :46:56.hope that the honourable lady sitting on the front edge opposite

:46:57. > :47:01.is not choosing to make it that. For my constituents, we want to make

:47:02. > :47:05.sure there is consistency in the way childcare is approached in the

:47:06. > :47:11.future, which goes for our constituents and their children, and

:47:12. > :47:15.providers of childcare as well. I think that are some important

:47:16. > :47:20.differences between the two front benches, and it is important to

:47:21. > :47:26.recognise that. I believe that the a conservative to government is

:47:27. > :47:33.showing a real understanding of the role of childcare and that it is

:47:34. > :47:38.vital for working parents. There has been a real quiet revolution

:47:39. > :47:43.happening in our workplace since the country has been recovering from the

:47:44. > :47:49.recession, with more women in work than ever before, including in this

:47:50. > :47:53.place. It is important to recognise this difference in approach, and

:47:54. > :47:58.particularly that the Prime Minister, throughout the previous

:47:59. > :48:02.five years, has made it central to the work that he has done in

:48:03. > :48:10.government, to make sure that flexible working is in place for all

:48:11. > :48:14.parents. And for all of us. These are ambitions that the Labour Party

:48:15. > :48:19.didn't deliver on in their time in office. There are still many women

:48:20. > :48:25.who are not in work who would like to be, and that's why I am pretty

:48:26. > :48:32.sedating in the debate today. It is important to support this bill were

:48:33. > :48:36.to see a doubling of free childcare alongside the other measures that

:48:37. > :48:42.the right honourable lady mentioned in her opening statement, such as

:48:43. > :48:48.tax-free childcare for the first time ever, and more support than any

:48:49. > :48:54.government has ever offered working parents before. Can I also suggest

:48:55. > :49:00.to the right honourable lady, she should be talking about being the

:49:01. > :49:04.party of working women, which is what this government is delivering

:49:05. > :49:09.through the childcare priorities she is setting out. Understanding the

:49:10. > :49:14.pressures that working parents face, especially those with small

:49:15. > :49:18.children, is vitally important. Women who want to return to work

:49:19. > :49:22.have found it almost impossible to do, in the past, because of the

:49:23. > :49:28.financial pressures they face. It would be wrong for those in the

:49:29. > :49:33.other place to seek to delay this important manifesto commitment by

:49:34. > :49:39.forcing on yet further research and funding reviews, which clearly

:49:40. > :49:43.aren't required in order to make this measure work.

:49:44. > :49:51.To make sure in the other place they listen to this debate and they don't

:49:52. > :49:56.seek to block what is an important measure, which has support from both

:49:57. > :50:01.sides of the House. Child care costs continue to be a real pressure. That

:50:02. > :50:10.is why this measure is important. I would like to pay tribute to the

:50:11. > :50:17.work of organisation like For Children, who provided briefings for

:50:18. > :50:22.all of us a and they pointed out that one in five parents has

:50:23. > :50:27.considered reducing their work hours, because of cost of child

:50:28. > :50:32.care. That is why this measure is important. Because while we have

:50:33. > :50:35.gone a long way in trying to make child care affordable, there is

:50:36. > :50:41.still more to do. This measure will help do that for parents. I hope the

:50:42. > :50:45.honourable lady sitting listening on the opposition bench registered that

:50:46. > :50:50.and registers that is the will of parents. I welcome this bill. I

:50:51. > :50:55.welcome the Government's commitment to increasing the average child care

:50:56. > :50:59.funding rates as well that are paid to providers and welcome the

:51:00. > :51:02.measures the Government outlined to make sure there is a fair

:51:03. > :51:10.distribution of funding across the country. If my constituency, most

:51:11. > :51:15.families have all parents working. That is one parent families and two

:51:16. > :51:22.parent family households. 16,000 families in Hampshire could benefit

:51:23. > :51:25.from this measure. This is a seismic change for those families. It is

:51:26. > :51:31.important to get it in place. In Hampshire we are well placed to take

:51:32. > :51:36.advantage of the new measures, because 90% of our providers are

:51:37. > :51:45.good or outstanding according to Ofsted and we have more than 14

:51:46. > :51:52.hundred early years providers delivering this key public service.

:51:53. > :51:58.But we are still recovering from I think some measures put in place in

:51:59. > :52:02.the past which had good intentions, but did unintentionally do some

:52:03. > :52:09.damage. In the past we have seen thousands of child minders leave the

:52:10. > :52:14.sector, because of the pressure they felt from the administrative burdens

:52:15. > :52:19.they faced. That was a shame, because they provided excellent,

:52:20. > :52:22.good quality child care for many working parts, particularly who were

:52:23. > :52:28.looking for after school care. Government funding for free places

:52:29. > :52:32.has been top sliced as my honourable friend mentioned. Because of a lack

:52:33. > :52:37.of a focus on perhaps the detail of how that could be prevented. Indeed

:52:38. > :52:40.parents have been in the past overwhelmed by the complexity of

:52:41. > :52:45.what was offered and initiatives that were so complex and not well

:52:46. > :52:49.communicated that many of our constituents found it difficult to

:52:50. > :52:53.understand how they could access that or were overlapping and

:52:54. > :52:58.provided additional complexities for employers. I welcome the comments

:52:59. > :53:02.the Secretary of State made in terms of being committed to a simpler

:53:03. > :53:07.system. I think that is an admirable place to start. The opposition did

:53:08. > :53:10.rather overfocus for a second reading debate on the details of

:53:11. > :53:15.finances. That is important, but there are other things that are

:53:16. > :53:19.important as well. I would just perhaps draw the Secretary of State

:53:20. > :53:24.and her ministers' attention to a few of them. Firstly, the importance

:53:25. > :53:28.of making sure that for parents we have stability in terms of their

:53:29. > :53:36.access to child care. If those parents who are work don't have

:53:37. > :53:41.long-term permanent contract, they may have breaks in employment or

:53:42. > :53:44.have variable hours. We need to make sure that for the children involved

:53:45. > :53:49.have stability in the child care that they have on offer. So perhaps

:53:50. > :53:54.the minister could in his comments at the end perhaps touch on how he

:53:55. > :53:59.will make sure that there are perhaps grace periods in place to

:54:00. > :54:03.make sure parents who have an underlying eligibility but may have

:54:04. > :54:07.short breaks in their employment still are able to access child care

:54:08. > :54:11.if that is at all possible. The second point is in terms of

:54:12. > :54:15.flexibility and building on some of the points the honourable lady

:54:16. > :54:23.speaking for the opposition was making, 45% of women with children

:54:24. > :54:27.work, do not work full-time. Many work atypical hours, but many work

:54:28. > :54:32.less than a full working week. I think flexibility needs to look at

:54:33. > :54:37.not only the, those that work a typical hours, but those that work

:54:38. > :54:44.shorter than the average working week, to ensure that they have the

:54:45. > :54:50.right flexibility and the child care doesn't become a cost which is

:54:51. > :54:54.higher than it should be in accordance with the hours they work.

:54:55. > :54:58.They should be at the heart of proposals and not left to the

:54:59. > :55:04.discretion of local authorities as to how flexibility works. I hope

:55:05. > :55:09.this is something the ministers can consider to make sure it works in

:55:10. > :55:17.practice for women and for parents who need it so badly. The third

:55:18. > :55:22.point I would make... It seems that the child care will not be available

:55:23. > :55:27.to parts unless they have weekly income level per parent equivalent

:55:28. > :55:33.of 16 hours a week worked at the national living wage that. Does seem

:55:34. > :55:40.to mitigate against the idea of people being able to work flexibly.

:55:41. > :55:46.I thank you. I am not about to have a debate. I hope the honourable lady

:55:47. > :55:53.is on the committee, because he will bring expertise to it. I'm setting

:55:54. > :55:58.out the issues that I I think should debate and I leave the ministers to

:55:59. > :56:00.answer the detail of her point. Going on to the issue of the

:56:01. > :56:04.business model of providers, because the honourable lady speaking for the

:56:05. > :56:10.opposition raises an important point in terms of making sure that this

:56:11. > :56:15.does work for the providers, because unlike many services that

:56:16. > :56:23.governments deliver, this is delivered predominantly by private

:56:24. > :56:27.and independent providers. And it is important there is an understanding

:56:28. > :56:34.of the business model and important to make sure that any funding regime

:56:35. > :56:39.takes that, takes the realities of business life for providers into

:56:40. > :56:43.account. I applaud the announcements of an increased rate in the average

:56:44. > :56:49.hourly rate that will go to providers, but I would underline

:56:50. > :56:55.that the only way this will work if there is, is if there is a guarantee

:56:56. > :57:00.in place that the money is not top sliced by local authorities who may

:57:01. > :57:03.seek to use that money to prop up services which are there to

:57:04. > :57:07.apparently support the child care sector. Some of the services are

:57:08. > :57:09.important. But what is most important is that the money gets to

:57:10. > :57:12.the providers to provide the care the providers to provide the care

:57:13. > :57:16.for our children. Because making sure that more of that money

:57:17. > :57:19.gettings through will make sure that the quality is there as well.

:57:20. > :57:23.Another issue which I hope the honourable lady will be able to

:57:24. > :57:29.consider as this bill passes through the House is the knock on

:57:30. > :57:33.opportunities for staff in terms of apprentice ships, making sure that

:57:34. > :57:38.apprenticeships are available to those in the sector in the quantity

:57:39. > :57:44.that would be needed to staff this new initiative. I thank the

:57:45. > :57:48.honourable lady for the response to my intervention earlier on about

:57:49. > :57:52.special educational needs. I raised that point, particularly because it

:57:53. > :57:57.was an issued raised by me by a contacted family and they have

:57:58. > :58:00.undertaken research which shows that 40% of families with disabled

:58:01. > :58:07.children are not able to take up the 15 hour child care offer that is

:58:08. > :58:10.currently available. That is ten times more than non-disabled

:58:11. > :58:14.children, because parents can feel that staff don't have sufficient

:58:15. > :58:20.training or providers can refuse a place for disabled child. Now

:58:21. > :58:24.denying a child that opportunity is unacceptable. Denying parents the

:58:25. > :58:29.opportunity to work is unacceptable. I am delighted to hear that there is

:58:30. > :58:36.a focus in there on ensuring that the support for children who are

:58:37. > :58:42.disabled to get this sort of child care is manifest and applaud the

:58:43. > :58:51.work is being done and hope that continues. As I said, I am fortunate

:58:52. > :58:55.to come from an area in North Hampshire that has a strong child

:58:56. > :59:00.care sector. Strong because we have a strong local economy, as a result

:59:01. > :59:05.of measures the government has put in place, the unemployment records

:59:06. > :59:11.-- levels are at a record low. We need to make sure we have a strong

:59:12. > :59:15.scheme in place tone sure that -- ensure that the child care sector

:59:16. > :59:20.can flourish in every constituency in the country. In my constituency,

:59:21. > :59:27.more than 40 group settings have said they want to offer the 30 hour

:59:28. > :59:32.offer. 92 child minders have expressed their interest of being

:59:33. > :59:42.part of early implementation of the new offer for parents. I I believe

:59:43. > :59:46.our County Council is Regging an interest to -- registering an

:59:47. > :59:50.interest and I hope with the support the council can do that and ensure

:59:51. > :59:56.that excellent counties like that are in the van guard of delivering

:59:57. > :00:01.an exciting new policy and I commend the ministers for the incredible

:00:02. > :00:09.hard work they have put into this measure and bringing it forward to

:00:10. > :00:14.the House today. I rise to speak today as a former teacher with 20

:00:15. > :00:20.years experience in education. So I plan to speak today from a personal

:00:21. > :00:25.point of view and I also plan to speak fairly briefly. I want to

:00:26. > :00:31.speak particularly about clause 2, because I think there are some

:00:32. > :00:38.issues there with clause 2. Years ago I worked at Glasgow University

:00:39. > :00:42.and I was part of a team training new teacher, this was teachers from

:00:43. > :00:48.nursery schools to secondary science teachers. One of the things that I

:00:49. > :00:54.had to do as part of that job was to visit students in placement. And I

:00:55. > :00:58.happened to visit a student in a particularly deprived area of

:00:59. > :01:05.Glasgow. And there was a small boy there who had one word in his Voe

:01:06. > :01:10.cackly. He had -- Voe Kabary. He had started school and the only word he

:01:11. > :01:16.had man and that word was used to any adult and any older pupil. This

:01:17. > :01:23.us was not a child -- this was not a child with special educational

:01:24. > :01:29.needs, but a child with... Whose language development was severely

:01:30. > :01:32.behind that what it should be. The honourable lady from Manchester

:01:33. > :01:36.central mentioned this 18 month development gap. For this particular

:01:37. > :01:45.child, it was closer to two years and that is a very difficult gap to

:01:46. > :01:59.make up. There was some great work done by a Notre Dam sister who came

:02:00. > :02:06.to Glasgow to look at the difficulty young people had in communicating.

:02:07. > :02:14.She worked very closely with the parents and realised that early

:02:15. > :02:24.intervention was key. This nun Doreen Grant wrote a book called

:02:25. > :02:31.Learning Relations. So this 30 hours of child care. Can I say it's

:02:32. > :02:35.absolutely fantastic for working parents. Extremely important and

:02:36. > :02:42.will make a massive difference to their lives. I welcome that.

:02:43. > :02:47.However, I think we need to be careful about the language, or maybe

:02:48. > :02:52.we need to revise the language that has been used. We talk about child

:02:53. > :02:58.care and maybe that is a difference. In Scotland we talk about early

:02:59. > :03:02.years education and the education programme starts aged three. I'm not

:03:03. > :03:07.talking about a formal education learning to read and write, I'm

:03:08. > :03:11.talking about learning to communicate, learning relationships,

:03:12. > :03:18.and starting to work through a curriculum. But when we compare the

:03:19. > :03:23.word child care to the words early years education there is a subtle

:03:24. > :03:28.but fundamental difference here in the language. Child care is about

:03:29. > :03:34.the parents. It is about what we can do to help the parents to support

:03:35. > :03:39.them. How it benefit them. How it makes their life more convenient and

:03:40. > :03:46.yes of course it will benefit the children as well. However, early

:03:47. > :03:51.education is focussed 100% on the children themselves. And it is about

:03:52. > :04:01.improving the life chances for our children. Now, the Secretary of

:04:02. > :04:06.State said they were the only party to have 30 hours of child care in

:04:07. > :04:11.their manifesto. I'm sure it was a slip up from the Secretary of State,

:04:12. > :04:17.because of course the Scottish National Party had already had 30

:04:18. > :04:22.hours early years education in their manifesto. And that, the difference

:04:23. > :04:26.here of course, is it is for all children. And that is really

:04:27. > :04:35.important, because if we are talking about education as a way of

:04:36. > :04:42.increasing their life chances it is crucial that we are not limiting it

:04:43. > :04:48.to parents who are both in work. This clause 2 will further increase

:04:49. > :04:52.inequalities and means that children that are most in need of a good

:04:53. > :05:00.start and early intervention could miss out.

:05:01. > :05:07.There are three groups of parents that I have concerns about that are

:05:08. > :05:13.not fully addressed in this bill. First, we have heard about children

:05:14. > :05:16.with disabilities. I welcome the Secretary of State's commitment to

:05:17. > :05:21.ensure there will be provision made for these children. I wonder about

:05:22. > :05:28.parents with disabilities who are not able to work. Where does that

:05:29. > :05:34.leave those children? These children's could be further excluded

:05:35. > :05:38.from society, and could miss out on chances. And we could be talking

:05:39. > :05:44.about extremely young children having to take on a caring role, and

:05:45. > :05:51.that's really important. I really feel strongly that has to be, the

:05:52. > :05:55.provision has to be increased to include people with disabilities who

:05:56. > :06:01.are unable to work. There is also a worry about grandparents, sometimes

:06:02. > :06:07.elderly grandparents, looking after children. No provision made for

:06:08. > :06:12.them. They also have two fulfilled this requirement to be in work in

:06:13. > :06:16.order to access this 30 hours. There's an opportunity here to

:06:17. > :06:22.really make a difference to these carers, these unsung heroes in

:06:23. > :06:27.society. The third group of parents I am concerned about are those who

:06:28. > :06:34.are on hours contracts. The honourable lady talked about

:06:35. > :06:39.flexible working. What about zero hours contracts? Unless we have a

:06:40. > :06:43.firm commitment to childcare provision, people on zero hours

:06:44. > :06:49.contracts will not be able to access that, which is really worrying.

:06:50. > :06:55.There is a very famous quote that's been attributed to lots of people,

:06:56. > :07:02.give me the boy until he is seven and I'll give you the man. That is

:07:03. > :07:07.absolutely key. What we do at the early stages makes such a

:07:08. > :07:13.difference. The Secretary of State talked about school readiness, and

:07:14. > :07:18.this 30 hours making such a difference to young children when

:07:19. > :07:25.they go to school. Are we only going to ready some sectors of society? We

:07:26. > :07:31.must ensure that this is expanded. I would urge the Secretary of State to

:07:32. > :07:35.look at that, expand it to make sure that all children, particularly

:07:36. > :07:40.those from a disadvantaged background, are able to access this.

:07:41. > :07:46.We've got an opportunity here to support both the parents and the

:07:47. > :07:51.children, and I would urge the Secretary of State to follow the

:07:52. > :08:00.Scottish Government's ambitious target to provide 30 hours of

:08:01. > :08:08.childcare, better 30 hours of early years education, to all children.

:08:09. > :08:16.Thank you. I welcome this bill, and I rise to and some reasons why I do

:08:17. > :08:24.so. This goes to the heart of what constituents say to us, in every

:08:25. > :08:27.part of the country, whether they are already working and wants

:08:28. > :08:32.security against the costs of the childcare they already pay for, or

:08:33. > :08:38.perhaps a couple who wants to be able to get into work or back into

:08:39. > :08:43.work, and faces a situation where the costs of childcare are just not

:08:44. > :08:48.worth it. I have spoken to schools of Norwich, parents and childcare

:08:49. > :08:53.providers, who welcome this bill for those reasons. I am proud that this

:08:54. > :08:57.is an election manifesto pledge, and I think that this bill stands to

:08:58. > :09:03.help parents considerably by doubling the number of free hours

:09:04. > :09:07.they can use. I think we will see, if we get this right, a

:09:08. > :09:13.transformative effect for so many people. We will see it for those

:09:14. > :09:18.parents who can then measured their household balance is more easily,

:09:19. > :09:22.for parents who can now choose to go to work, for parents who may be able

:09:23. > :09:27.to now change their career if they so wish, by having this backing

:09:28. > :09:33.behind them. We will see a benefit to the children behind them, who

:09:34. > :09:38.will be able to get that much more high-quality early years education.

:09:39. > :09:46.I want to see an emphasis on quality as much as quantity. I think we will

:09:47. > :09:48.see a benefit to local local economies, who will see the

:09:49. > :09:59.workforce ETA supported, less stressed, more resilient and more

:10:00. > :10:04.able, for the people who are those employees, to take advantage of the

:10:05. > :10:08.opportunity is they wish to. I also want to say a word for the kind of

:10:09. > :10:13.local businesses who are the nurseries and childcare providers

:10:14. > :10:18.themselves. They will be able to grow to meet this demand, and employ

:10:19. > :10:23.more local people themselves. We do have to get this right in

:10:24. > :10:29.legislation. I want to add a feud detail is from my own constituency

:10:30. > :10:36.and from the County of Norfolk. Norfolk County Council's 2015

:10:37. > :10:41.childcare efficiency assessment shows us that with household incomes

:10:42. > :10:45.in Norfolk lower than the national average, the biggest concern for

:10:46. > :10:51.families is the cost of childcare. Research shows there is already

:10:52. > :10:58.eyeing independent and voluntary sector in the county. Childminder

:10:59. > :11:04.numbers are coming down. Recruitment is a challenge for some settings.

:11:05. > :11:10.Quality of childcare provision in Norfolk is higher than the national

:11:11. > :11:17.average. We see that 94% of Norfolk parents are happy with their current

:11:18. > :11:21.childcare, although reports some dissatisfaction with affordability,

:11:22. > :11:25.accessibility and availability. Norfolk parents want to use

:11:26. > :11:32.childcare. Nearly eight out of ten of parents of eligible children take

:11:33. > :11:37.up that provision, compared to six out of ten nationally. So credit

:11:38. > :11:45.where it is due to the County Council, who have responded to armed

:11:46. > :11:52.by creating over 2000 places for eligible to-year-old in one year.

:11:53. > :11:57.There is a surplus of funding for two-year-old children over all, but

:11:58. > :12:03.there is a widespread shortage of three and 4-year-olds funded

:12:04. > :12:11.places. The County Council estimates that places are still required for

:12:12. > :12:20.3600 two-year-olds, and 18,700 three and 4-year-olds. In my constituency,

:12:21. > :12:24.demand outstrips supply for places for two-year-old and three and

:12:25. > :12:32.4-year-olds. Some recent figures as Nick sample suggests there are

:12:33. > :12:37.around childcare places in the mile Cross and Sewell areas of my

:12:38. > :12:45.constituency, but 1200 three and 4-year-olds. So there is a shortfall

:12:46. > :12:49.of half is what is needed. On top of that, like many constituencies

:12:50. > :12:56.around the country, I see housing growth to come to the north of

:12:57. > :13:02.Norwich. I see that the zero -5 population is rising. I also see

:13:03. > :13:07.that demand is likely to rise further with this doubling of free

:13:08. > :13:13.hours. In many ways, that's an opportunity. There is an opportunity

:13:14. > :13:17.to be grasped in local economies like Norwich for this to be

:13:18. > :13:23.something that can be done, and done well, for parents. Let me add the

:13:24. > :13:28.thoughts from constituents who have contacted me. This one talks about a

:13:29. > :13:35.shortage of out of school care. That applies to children who will be in

:13:36. > :13:39.some cases older than what we are talking about here. But her comments

:13:40. > :13:46.hold for parents facing all types of childcare shortages. She says, the

:13:47. > :13:54.local childminders are all full with waiting lists. The local school has

:13:55. > :13:57.increased its intake, but the breakfast and after-school clubs do

:13:58. > :14:03.not provide enough places for the pupils at the school. She asks, how

:14:04. > :14:08.is that sufficient? She says she works for the NHS as a nurse working

:14:09. > :14:13.for disabled children. She says she will struggle to continue to do

:14:14. > :14:17.shiftwork, because her son comes first, and with no option of

:14:18. > :14:24.childcare, she will have to to leave her work. She asks, as my MP, if you

:14:25. > :14:28.could provision -- increase the provision of after-school care, that

:14:29. > :14:37.will be great for many parents. Having exhausted all avenues, she

:14:38. > :14:41.says, including sure start centres, the County Council website and

:14:42. > :14:50.Facebook groups, I will have two move, leave my job. So she is being

:14:51. > :14:57.penalised for working full-time, she says. There is a huge fish unity to

:14:58. > :15:02.get this right, for children of all ages, but particularly format one

:15:03. > :15:10.max. The opportunity is there for parents, for children and for local

:15:11. > :15:20.constituencies. -- particularly for one max. I have already convened

:15:21. > :15:29.local action on this issue. The local SP college, as a workforce

:15:30. > :15:33.provider, I have approached nurseries to ask how we can in

:15:34. > :15:38.courage the greater supply in Norwich. We should be considering

:15:39. > :15:43.that question alongside the legislation here. We have two years

:15:44. > :15:49.to get it right. Parents need us to do so. We can look at some of the

:15:50. > :15:54.obvious concerns, such as suitable premises all land available within

:15:55. > :16:00.an urban area. We are also looking at the funding settlement. I welcome

:16:01. > :16:04.the higher funding settlement announced today, and I want this

:16:05. > :16:09.message to go out to childcare businesses in Norwich today, this is

:16:10. > :16:13.your chance. This is an opportunity to serve your local economy by

:16:14. > :16:21.coming into business in this area. I'd also expect the County Council

:16:22. > :16:26.to look at its funding model, which it has, in terms of the detail of

:16:27. > :16:31.the way it applies the funding to different types of setting. I would

:16:32. > :16:38.also note that Norfolk County Council spends nearly 9% of its

:16:39. > :16:43.early funding centrally, rather than passing it to providers. I say that

:16:44. > :16:50.is too high. Cornwall spends 0.3% of its funding centrally, and

:16:51. > :16:54.Lincolnshire 2.9%. So it can be done that those costs be brought down,

:16:55. > :17:00.and I would urge Norfolk to look at that. This group I am communing in

:17:01. > :17:08.Norwich will work together in five areas. We will cooperate with

:17:09. > :17:12.schools in planning, in the planning that they have to do. We want to

:17:13. > :17:17.cooperate with local authorities and the other planning they do in the

:17:18. > :17:27.sense of development, so there is the use of this rates to look at --

:17:28. > :17:33.of business rates. We also want to work together with business and

:17:34. > :17:41.inward investment organisations. The larger chains, who have not yet seen

:17:42. > :17:46.the opportunity in Norfolk, should come here and see the investment

:17:47. > :17:49.opportunities we have. We also want to work with local education

:17:50. > :17:54.providers, because there will clearly be the need for a training

:17:55. > :18:05.offer suitable for increased demand. The fifth thing we must do is a

:18:06. > :18:08.question of raising awareness. We have an opportunity here. It is a

:18:09. > :18:15.huge opportunity that must be grasped. We would be letting down

:18:16. > :18:20.parents and children and our local economy if we did not grasp this

:18:21. > :18:26.opportunity, so let this message go out today from this chamber and this

:18:27. > :18:29.bill, that childcare is that chance. It is an exciting opportunity, and

:18:30. > :18:35.the government is doing what it can to make sure that that comes about

:18:36. > :18:39.for parents and children. I have laid out just a few of the

:18:40. > :18:44.characteristics of childcare in Norfolk, and particularly in my

:18:45. > :18:48.already that I am leading in the already that I am leading in the

:18:49. > :18:52.constituency for those parents who need this childcare, and there is

:18:53. > :18:57.more to do. I thoroughly support this bill today, which will pave the

:18:58. > :19:01.way for parents to go into work, for local businesses to grow, and for

:19:02. > :19:07.children to benefit from good quality early years education. We

:19:08. > :19:20.should see this bill accordingly. It is a pleasure to follow the

:19:21. > :19:29.honourable member. As we have seen the debate is split between a

:19:30. > :19:33.conversation between maternal employment rates and development and

:19:34. > :19:39.the point the honourable lady for the SNP raised. I would have more

:19:40. > :19:43.cress dense to her view if the rates of social mobility in Scotland under

:19:44. > :19:49.the SNP administration were working faster when we see the number of

:19:50. > :19:54.childrens from disadvantaged background going to higher education

:19:55. > :19:58.in relation to England, the SNP have not delivered what they promised.

:19:59. > :20:04.I'm delighted. I thank the honourable gentleman for giving way.

:20:05. > :20:07.He possibly doesn't realise one of the routes into higher education in

:20:08. > :20:15.Scotland is through further education and these figures are not

:20:16. > :20:18.included in your statistics. I thank today for her intervention and I do

:20:19. > :20:23.know that. If I was a representative of the SNP I wouldn't be defending

:20:24. > :20:27.their role with further education. What they have done is support

:20:28. > :20:30.higher edge case at the expense of further education and hammering the

:20:31. > :20:35.poor. But I'm being dragged away from the second reading of the bill.

:20:36. > :20:45.As the shadow Secretary of State said, we can all welcome the policy

:20:46. > :20:53.of extending free child care to 30 hours, this builds on the Labour

:20:54. > :20:58.offer of 25 hours that we were told was unaffordable. It builds on hours

:20:59. > :21:04.of work. Any legislation which aims to tackle the child care crisis

:21:05. > :21:08.which aims to increase maternal rates of employment and aims to

:21:09. > :21:11.generate long-term growth has to be welcomed. But over the last five

:21:12. > :21:23.years the Government has made it harder to parents to find the child

:21:24. > :21:34.care hours they need. Since twen ten there -- 2010 there are 40,000 fewer

:21:35. > :21:39.places. Child care prices are crippling families who are already

:21:40. > :21:48.under pressure with parents now spending over ?13 hundred more on

:21:49. > :21:52.child care than in 2010. So anything that attempts to address these

:21:53. > :21:59.impacts on families is to be welcomed. The question I think is

:22:00. > :22:02.how it is to be funded. I do welcome the Chancellor's announcements

:22:03. > :22:09.today, the ?300 million of additional funding four the scream

:22:10. > :22:13.to increase the hourly rate child care providers receive and the ?50

:22:14. > :22:20.million of invest to create additional places in nurseries to be

:22:21. > :22:25.brought in from 1718. As my honourable friend will explore in

:22:26. > :22:30.her incisive speech, these figures don't quite add up. Again I think we

:22:31. > :22:37.can reflect on the irony that we were told during the election

:22:38. > :22:40.campaign that 25 hours was unrealistic and undoable and now the

:22:41. > :22:49.Government have come up with different figures. I am sure

:22:50. > :22:55.chairman Mao had an aforism about that. This ignores the crisis

:22:56. > :23:04.hitting the sector. As the shadow Secretary of State suggested, the

:23:05. > :23:10.free child care policy is behind schedule and Ofsted is announcing

:23:11. > :23:15.11,000 places, we are seeing a drop during the course of this year. This

:23:16. > :23:19.is leading to many providers having to close, resulting in further

:23:20. > :23:24.shortage of places. In my constituency of Stoke-on-Trent there

:23:25. > :23:29.are 74 less registered providers than in 2009. This is evidence that

:23:30. > :23:33.the underlying infrastructure needed to deliver the Government's

:23:34. > :23:38.announcements today is creaking to breaking point. The industry for

:23:39. > :23:44.public policy research in their report on the implementation of bill

:23:45. > :23:49.warned that if more providers close, driving down quality, with poorer

:23:50. > :23:54.outcome for children and less choice for parent as the market shrinks. In

:23:55. > :24:05.the face of increasing demand and decreasing provision the Government

:24:06. > :24:10.will have to deregulate provision. I am delighted to give way. On staff

:24:11. > :24:16.the child ratios, there are no plans and we have said in the other place

:24:17. > :24:22.to reduce the ratios for three and four-year-olds. I am delighted that

:24:23. > :24:28.this is the third or fourth U-turn of the day. It is hard to keep up.

:24:29. > :24:33.But it is important as I shall go on to suggest that when we think about

:24:34. > :24:38.this question, we also focus not just on the economics, but we also

:24:39. > :24:44.focus on the quality of provision for those in early years. As he

:24:45. > :24:53.knows the shadow Secretary of State said there was evidence between a

:24:54. > :24:57.judgment of outstanding and the presence of better qualified staff.

:24:58. > :25:04.The education select committee in its report set out that poor child

:25:05. > :25:11.care is worse than no child care and can be December rimental. It --

:25:12. > :25:16.detrimental. It is depressing when you see young women who themselves

:25:17. > :25:23.are having a struggle in terms of their own educational' Tainment

:25:24. > :25:26.working with children from deprived back grounds. All the challenges we

:25:27. > :25:33.are seeing means the quality of provision is essential. I will give

:25:34. > :25:37.way. Thank you. Is he aware that what is happening here is we are

:25:38. > :25:42.doubling the entitlement, but not necessarily the demand. So there are

:25:43. > :25:48.a lot of parents who are already buying more than 15 hours, which is

:25:49. > :25:53.the current free entitlement. What changes is who pays for it. All the

:25:54. > :26:01.scaremongering about quality being reduced doesn't necessarily stack

:26:02. > :26:04.up. I am not really arguing about the reduction of quality, I'm

:26:05. > :26:07.arguing for an improvement to quality. I understand the point

:26:08. > :26:14.about the doubling of the provision, but the argument has to be when we

:26:15. > :26:21.see such ingrained inequality and such disadvantage that the quality

:26:22. > :26:25.of provision needs to improve. We know investment in the early years

:26:26. > :26:29.is about more than just announcing more child care. There is a huge

:26:30. > :26:37.part of the infrastructure that has been ignored, cut and undermined by

:26:38. > :26:40.this Government. Time and again children's centres has come under

:26:41. > :26:46.assault from this government. We know that the last Labour Government

:26:47. > :26:50.tried to make sure start centres an essential part of welfare state and

:26:51. > :26:54.part of this government's ambition to dismantle the welfare state is

:26:55. > :26:59.strip away one of the elements that we think is such a civilising part

:27:00. > :27:03.of society. With more centres being forced to close and cutback, due to

:27:04. > :27:07.inadequate funding, there was no announcement for funding today for

:27:08. > :27:11.children's centres or support for the early intervention grant. Indeed

:27:12. > :27:16.according to the children's society the total value of the early

:27:17. > :27:21.intervention grant which funds children's centres was around 3.2

:27:22. > :27:27.billion in today's prices. By 2015 the value of the grant has been more

:27:28. > :27:31.than halved to around 1.4 billion. By the end of 2016 the allocation

:27:32. > :27:38.provided to local authorities through the support grant would have

:27:39. > :27:44.been reduced by 6.8 billion pounds compared to funding for come par

:27:45. > :27:53.sieve services prior to the - comparative budgets prior to 2010.

:27:54. > :27:58.They reduced funding by some ?700 million in real terms s. This

:27:59. > :28:04.amounts to spending reductions of over one and a half billion. With

:28:05. > :28:07.Eno e - we know with local authorities under pressure the

:28:08. > :28:13.outlook for children's centres looks bleak. Over the last five years the

:28:14. > :28:17.Government, over 700 centres have been closed. We know that effective

:28:18. > :28:23.early intervention does not begin at the age of three, it begins with

:28:24. > :28:28.anti-natal classes, drop in clinics and open access provision. It begins

:28:29. > :28:32.with teaching parents the importance of bonding and attachment. If

:28:33. > :28:39.anything those fist years of a child's life are the most important

:28:40. > :28:43.in terms of child development. The more we discover about development

:28:44. > :28:47.and the effects of the growth of the brain in the early months and years,

:28:48. > :28:52.the more startling it is that the Government have piled on the cuts in

:28:53. > :28:55.the earliest years. They're not serious about tackling disadvantage

:28:56. > :29:00.and inequality, because if they were, they wouldn't be putting all

:29:01. > :29:06.the cuts into that area. So it is no wonder that great charities say poor

:29:07. > :29:10.kids do worse under this Government and it is no wonder we see the

:29:11. > :29:14.effects of that in our schooling and education system. The Government's

:29:15. > :29:23.record on protecting the architecture of the delivery of

:29:24. > :29:28.education in the early years is lamentable. Labour protected the

:29:29. > :29:33.budget in our election promise. This Government protected only schools.

:29:34. > :29:37.Today's announcement about six form and further education is well, but

:29:38. > :29:42.it means an 8% cut to their budgets over the coming five years. The

:29:43. > :29:49.Labour Party despite the global crash with the help of the sure

:29:50. > :29:53.start architecture slashed child poverty by 900,000. What is what

:29:54. > :29:59.Labour governments do. That is what progressive Governments do. Under

:30:00. > :30:04.the latest figures, we know we are going to see child poverty rocket.

:30:05. > :30:12.Time and again the early years have been deprioritised. We on this side

:30:13. > :30:16.have a commitment to the power of early years education and our belief

:30:17. > :30:20.it is the most effective way of narrowing the achievement gap so no

:30:21. > :30:25.child is left behind when taking their first steps in a reception

:30:26. > :30:32.classroom. We are, I am supportive of measures to help working

:30:33. > :30:38.families. I am very supportive. We are all united in this house on

:30:39. > :30:44.measures to help work families. But we need a much richer, deeper and

:30:45. > :30:48.more sophisticated focus on the quality of early years provision and

:30:49. > :30:55.what it can do to tackle the inequality and disadvantage. I would

:30:56. > :30:59.like to support this bill. It is a pleasure to follow the member for

:31:00. > :31:09.Stoke-on-Trent. He said it is a Labour policy. I do not remember it

:31:10. > :31:13.being chiselled on the Ed stone, but perhaps the honourable lady can

:31:14. > :31:19.refresh our memory. Anyone who saw the photographs of Prime Minister

:31:20. > :31:26.and the visit to advantage day care nursery in toll worth will know was

:31:27. > :31:32.this policy had blue fingerprints all eve it. I'm pleased the bill was

:31:33. > :31:39.one of the first the Government introduced and the Government made

:31:40. > :31:43.it clear that promoting social aspiration is at the heart of its

:31:44. > :31:49.agenda. Ensuring young people get the best start in life, no matter

:31:50. > :31:53.what their background is at the core of Conservative mission. For me it

:31:54. > :31:59.is one of core duties of any Government and what I hope to

:32:00. > :32:05.achieve as a member of Parliament. It is what my parents worked to

:32:06. > :32:11.achieve in the teaching profession. 30 hours free child care has two

:32:12. > :32:15.objectives. First, is to ease the burden on parents who want to go

:32:16. > :32:20.back to work. Parents who are either prohibited or restricted in their

:32:21. > :32:26.ambition to do so by the gap between their low pay and the high cost of

:32:27. > :32:31.child care. It is right that 30 hours free child care formed a

:32:32. > :32:35.central plank of our offer to hard working families during the general

:32:36. > :32:40.election and we are working to deliver that now. The second

:32:41. > :32:44.objective of 30 hours free child care is significantly to improve the

:32:45. > :32:50.life chances of our next generation and it is that aim of policy that I

:32:51. > :32:56.want to speak to this afternoon. Early years education has been the

:32:57. > :33:01.Cinderella of schooling policy, more and more evidence has pointed to the

:33:02. > :33:07.fact that emotional and physical health, the social skills, the

:33:08. > :33:12.linguistic facilities we develop in early years are the prerequisite for

:33:13. > :33:18.attainment in school, the work place and in the community. It is not

:33:19. > :33:23.surprising therefore that research suggests that early years education

:33:24. > :33:27.is the critical ingredient to close the educational achievement gap

:33:28. > :33:32.between children from low income and high income households before

:33:33. > :33:35.starting primary school. Investment in early years education is cost

:33:36. > :33:43.effective and more than one study from the US has found Nat average

:33:44. > :33:49.benefit tohe found the average Nat -- found the average benefit was

:33:50. > :33:53.almost $200,000. Recent Department for Education figures show in

:33:54. > :33:57.England one in four children are starting primary school without the

:33:58. > :34:04.expected level of early language skills and save the children have

:34:05. > :34:13.carried o' ought survey last week which found that 75% of teachers see

:34:14. > :34:21.children struggling to speak English properly. This is simply not good

:34:22. > :34:24.enough. Children in my local authority perform above average in

:34:25. > :34:26.their speech and language development at age five. Thanks in

:34:27. > :34:31.part to the excellent teaching we part to the excellent teaching we

:34:32. > :34:37.have in the area. However, the poorest children are almost twice as

:34:38. > :34:41.likely to fall behind and are about a year behind at the age of five.