Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, I, too, have considerable sympathy with these amendments. There are some difficulties, perhaps particularly in some of the poorer areas where voluntary centres and voluntary nursery provision have been set up and have been going for some time. I declare an interest in one of those centres, the Peckham Settlement. Schools in other parts of the country have supported the settlement and the nursery provision over many years. A huge amount of government funding has rightly gone into such areas to ensure that there is adequate provision throughout the country and to even out uneven provision. In those circumstances, some of the providers of the past have been disadvantaged. I support the ideas behind these amendments, but I realise that the governance of these bodies and the involvement of parents in what is provided are crucial. Sure Start has been, from the beginning, the exemplar. There were equal numbers of local people, volunteers and professionals. In some areas, it got a little distorted with perhaps too many professionals. We need to keep an eye on the importance of having local people aware of and involved in providing for local needs, which will differ from area to area. I have a great deal of sympathy with these amendments.