Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, this clause inserts new provisions into Part 1 of the Childcare Act 2006 which imposes duties on English local authorities and others to secure sufficient provision of children’s centres to meet local need. We very much support Sure Start children’s centres which fulfil a fundamentally important role in the local community. We recognise that there are certain advantages that will come from their being designated on a statutory basis, particularly because they place new duties on local authorities to respond to the local need of parents, prospective parents and young children in the local authority’s area. Nevertheless, we have some reservations. The benefit of putting children’s centres on a statutory footing could arguably be negated, or at least there could be some serious disadvantages. One of the great advantages of these centres is that they are so flexible. Sure Start centres can adapt their services to the varying needs of each local community. They grow in size and scope depending on the needs of the area in which they operate. We very much applaud this approach and hope that that will not be damaged by the inflexibility that will come from being enshrined in legislation. Amendment 202 would place a duty on the local authority not to provide any early childhood services unless it was satisfied that no other person could provide these services or when it would be more appropriate for the local authority itself to do so. Amendment 204 follows a similar line of reasoning because it argues that in the Childcare Act 2006, under the provision of specific duties of the local authority in relation to childhood services, there should be a restriction that an English local authority must have regard to the desirability of maintaining a different range of services and protecting the PVI sector. I very much hope that the Minister will be able to offer us some reassurance on this count. We wish most earnestly to guard against the duplication of services where it is not necessary. We believe that it is important to make the best use of the private, voluntary and independent sector wherever possible. Responding in another place, the Government claimed that they were sure that the PVI sector was not overlooked. I hope that here the Minister might have some more substantive reassurance to offer. Those in the midst of this industry know that it is often the case that the PVI sector is indeed overlooked. We are not asking for exclusive emphasis to be placed on the PVI sector, merely that it should be included in all thoughts and considerations of the provision of services. Our Amendment 203 raises a further consideration. This alters new Section 5E, which is being added to the Childcare Act 2006. This amendment was tabled in another place and since then, changes have indeed been made to this section, including that "local need of services" means the needs of parents, prospective parents and young children in the authority’s area, rather than the inflexible notion of just what a local authority considers should be provided. For this we are grateful. We have tabled this amendment here once again in order to raise concerns about the emphasis being placed on extending these services to disadvantaged families. Sure Start children’s centres are described as "service hubs" where families can gather and receive seamless, integrated services and information. We welcome these for all families. Nevertheless, we believe that efforts should be made to ensure that no families are left out. Can the Minister assure us of any outreach efforts that will be made in order to secure services for those disadvantaged families? I am sure that we will receive assurance on this matter. It would be interesting to hear why there is no specific provision for that in the Bill, but perhaps I have missed it. Finally, our amendment also serves to underline the fundamental importance of health visitor services within the local area. This is a specific mention of only one of the services which we expect to be provided in children’s centres. It demonstrates, however, our longstanding commitment to the provision of health services through Sure Start. Does the Minister expect health services to play a pivotal role here? Do the Government now agree with our longstanding plea for health visitors to be provided as part of Sure Start? I look forward to the Minister’s response. I beg to move.