Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, I am going to change the bowling a little from childcare to the support of parents, enabling them to do the job that they want to do better. I recognise that the main objective of the Bill is to introduce the universal credit, but that should not allow us to ignore the possibility that some of the things we might do in creating the universal credit might also have beneficial effects for children and their parents. My Amendments 31B and 51E, which are small amendments, propose alternatives and could contribute significantly to the Government’s policy on improving outcomes, particularly in education, social mobility for young people and reducing disadvantage. Amendment 31B would secure that a small proportion of the childcare element of universal credit, perhaps no more than 10 per cent, would be conditional on the person claiming the element making at least some attempt to ““hone”” their knowledge of the parenting needs of young children and to improve their own parenting skills before they took on the job. This deal would have the advantage that it would not be stigmatising, because it would be open and available to all who claimed the childcare element. My Amendment 51E, which is an alternative to Amendment 31B, would go rather further and prevent an applicant for benefits claiming the childcare element unless he or she had attended specified parenting classes. I like this alternative rather less. There is now a wide measure of agreement among experts worldwide that a child’s future success in school and in employment is strongly influenced by the kind of love, encouragement, care and educational preparation they get in the first three years of life. In this context, I had intended to use the quotations that I unfortunately used up when responding to the amendment of noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood. I am sure that all your Lordships have memorised them, so I shall provide just two other, brief quotes from Supporting Families in the Foundation Years. It states that, "““there is a consensus that we should do more, by … recognising that families are the most important influence on children in the foundation years””." It continues: "““The things that parents or carers do with children at home, like talking to, reading to, and playing with them, are key predictors of future development and readiness for school. The impact of the early home-learning environment on outcomes at age five has an effect over and above factors such as socio- economic status, maternal education and family income””." I rest my case on the importance of what I am talking about. For the very young child, parents or surrogate parents are nearly always the principal carers. Time spent in the home is vastly more than time spent in childcare, even when good childcare is available. The Bill seems to put out-of-home care centre stage, and shows much less concern for care in the home or parenting in the home. I have come to realise that that is not government policy, but it is a serious defect in the Bill. The amendments would send the message: ““These days, parenting is a difficult job to do. To do it well, we all need some advice and help and some updating of our skills””. The Government would be saying not that training for parenting should be compulsory, but that they believe that it should be so important that they are prepared to offer a small bonus for carers who are prepared to undertake a short course to upgrade their knowledge about modern parenting. Parenting UK, the lead body for parenting education, which I had the privilege of chairing for many years, believes from experience that an evening class once a week for about eight to 12 weeks can be effective in improving parenting outcomes for children. The bonus that I suggest would do more than that; it would say something about the status of good and supportive parenting in our society. I think that there is room for a change of heart in our attitudes towards the importance of parenting. There is a national parenting campaign in New Zealand entitled SKIPS, which stands for Strategies with Kids—Information for Parents. I do not suggest that we adopt that acronym. It targets all parents and care givers and is said to be transforming the way in which people in New Zealand think about parenting by establishing the idea that good parenting of young people is a learnt skill. I acknowledge that the wording of my amendments may be inadequate, but I should be very grateful if the Minister would consider them. Perhaps I may come to talk to him about them.