Childcare Bill

If the hon. Lady will allow me to continue for few moments, I will address that very point. It makes no sense to have a situation in which the state is in competition with existing providers. The state can fill gaps, by all means—it probably should do that—but it should not provide something that amounts to unfair competition. If the state sets the rules and funds projects out of general taxation, private and voluntary groups cannot compete on a level playing field. For example, local authorities will have a duty under the Bill to ensure that there is sufficient, and free, early-years provision in their areas. The desire is clearly that local authorities will co-operate with existing providers to ensure that that happens. Indeed, I was pleased to see a commitment from the Department for Education and Skills to encourage local authorities to work closely with private and voluntary providers and to complete full audits of local child care needs. Some organisations want the Government to go further. The Minister will be aware that the National Day Nurseries Association, which is the largest body representing private, voluntary and maintained day nurseries, has said that both local authorities and child care providers would benefit from a clear and uniform national framework for partnership working. The association wants measurable targets to be set for local authorities on the involvement of the private and voluntary sectors. It says:"““this would ensure that duplication of provision and the full involvement of all sectors could be enforced.””" The association’s research suggests that local authorities are not adopting a partnership approach, which is why it wants such firm guidance on the requirement for partnership working. It is clearly concerned about the way in which local authorities will take the strategic lead. There are clearly dangers in effectively outsourcing child care provision to local authorities. For example, the CBI has warned that local councils must not be allowed to construct a ““state monopoly”” of child care provision. I think that the CBI is also worried about local authorities’ in-built advantages. For example, authorities are able to reclaim VAT when they set up day care centres, but private providers cannot do that. We must take such worries extremely seriously, and I think that that addresses the point about why there is not a level playing field for public and private sector providers of child care.