Childcare Bill

I am pleased to hear of the hon. Gentleman’s constituency experience, but I can tell him that many other constituencies have a rather different experience. I am thinking particularly of the impact on Sure Start, on which I shall comment in a minute. It is difficult enough for parents to find places in nurseries or play groups—that often causes them a great deal of anguish—but when those nurseries and play groups close, it means real disruption for children and real problems for parents. If we are to crack the nut of affordable child care, we can do it only by working with all providers, including the private and voluntary sector, to ensure that the needs of families are met. There is real concern in the industry that the Bill will mean closure for many nurseries. I am sure that the Secretary of State will have read in the Financial Times last week about research undertaken by the National Day Nurseries Association. It might interest the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) as well. More than half the association’s members had seen their local authorities create child care places that competed directly with them. According to 71 per cent. of respondents, local authorities were not involving them in the delivery of children’s centres, and 63 per cent. did not believe that local authorities would collaborate with providers locally to build on existing provision rather than merely replicating it. Purnima Tanuku, the NDNA’s chief executive, has said that the Bill"““will not succeed in reversing these trends and establishing a mixed economy in childcare.””" We must make full and proper use of the capacity and skills of the private and voluntary sectors. Only by working with them, rather than competing against them, can we ensure that Government resources put into child care deliver value for money. Government provision must complement what is already there. After all, 24 per cent. of private providers are already operating in less affluent communities, and many more are keen to do so. We must harness their potential. Government must promote the mixed-economy approach, building on existing provision, which could benefit children and parents from disadvantaged communities the most. We have always supported the work done in establishing Sure Start, and we recognise that for many parents it has made a difference. It also has flaws, however. It focuses on the 20 per cent. most deprived wards, but Government figures show that 46 per cent. of the most deprived children do not live in those wards. Too many parents who could benefit from Sure Start or a similar project are denied it, often because by refusing to work with the private sector the Government are not making the best use of resources. Sure Start is also relatively new and untested. Since its introduction, it has gained support, but we have seen no empirical evidence of the difference that it is making in communities.