Childcare Bill [Lords] Bill

I spent five years on the shadow Justice team and had to speak to many really quite dreadful Bill...

It’s all good stuff.

It’s fantastic stuff, isn’t it? There is more:

“With a Conservative Government, you will ge...

All parties at the last general election promised to increase the free entitlement. Labour promis...

As I will explain, the problem is with who the Government are excluding. People earning more than...

The hon. Lady mentioned the hon. Member for North West Durham (Pat Glass), who, at the end of the...

Well, I am glad that’s as simple as it gets. I said at the outset that I supported the Bill reaso...

Universal credit.

The Minister says that universal credit will help improve the system. I venture to suggest that i...

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way, but I struggle somewhat to understand ho...

Is the hon. Lady looking at the wrong piece of paper? I shall go on to explain what is in new cla...

I thank the hon. Lady for being so generous in giving way. The Conservative party promised at the...

I do wish it was my Bill that we were debating here. I really do, but it is not; it is the Minist...

The hon. Lady raises important questions around parents on zero-hours contracts and how they will...

I am, of course, grateful to the Minister for his intervention, but I might just suggest that he ...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will move on by giving way to my hon. Friend.

I am grateful to my constituency near-neighbour for giving way. I was pleased to serve on the Bil...

My hon. Friend makes a good point, and does so very well. We all like a keen and perky and eager ...

They are not intervening now, though, are they?

No, they are very quiet now.

Willing the ends without the means will cause more resentment ...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. As the equality gap widens in Tory Britain in 2016,...

I dread to think what my kids would say to that.

New clause 2 is a modest request, given th...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Minister could win his place in education history by accepting...

My hon. Friend makes a good point. Not only would the Minister win his place in the history of ed...

I am grateful for the opportunity to hold this important debate, and I once again welcome the hon...

What the Minister says is correct—that is his intention—but does he accept that in new clause 1 o...

The hon. Lady is right to ask the questions. However, I shall resist the new clause, and the main...

Will my hon. Friend congratulate Portsmouth, where children do extremely well in their early year...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. The quality of early years provision has improved signifi...

Various groups have raised concerns about capacity and quality of provision and stressed the need...

The Government will be spending £6 billion a year from 2019-20 on early years and childcare. The ...

Many kinship carers of young children are pensioners, so they will not meet the work thresholds t...

Every three and four-year-old is entitled to 15 hours of free childcare. The question is who is e...

But that is not the point. Kinship carers are some of the most pressed individuals in our society...

Under the current regime, kinship carers will get three hours of respite care a day for five days...

I thank the Minister for being so generous in giving way. I want to echo the sentiment expressed ...

Again, the hon. Lady has made a very good point. If the children of kinship carers need additiona...

Does the Minister not think that it would be more appropriate for very young children to be in se...

The hon. Lady is now asking a very different question. If a disadvantaged child has additional ed...

When the Minister and I met after the Committee stage, we talked a great deal about how we would ...

It was a pleasure to meet the hon. Lady in the Department, along with some of my officials, to di...

Will people undertaking apprenticeships be eligible for the 30 hours, and what scope is there for...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The eligibility criteria are based on whether a person i...

Although I endorse and support the main thrust of what my hon. Friend is saying, and indeed the G...

My hon. Friend makes a good point about a concern felt by some parents. The first 15 hours is uni...

The Minister is making quite a bold assertion about the impact of this measure. He does not know ...

The early years foundation stage profile data show that the gap is already being narrowed. Econom...

I welcome the announcement of the funding increase, which is very important as a reassuring messa...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. If central Government make the funding available but we ...

Although I am not sure Mr Speaker saw me do so, I almost fell over when I tried to catch his eye ...

The hon. Lady raised this point in Committee and we debated it extensively. I promised to write t...

rose—

Perhaps I may finish my point. I am happy to look into how we can extend the grace period for thi...

I am delighted at the Minister’s—erm—willingness, when it had seemed that those on the Government...

Commitment.

Yes, that is the word I will use. There is now a firm commitment from the Government.

I was...

I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Lady that such children need consistency and support. To ext...

I was going to say that, whereas other Departments have shown a clear commitment to taking their ...

Consideration completed. I will now suspend the House for about five minutes in order to make a d...

I can now inform the House of my decision about certification. For the purposes of Standing Order...

indicated assent.

I am grateful to the Minister for the requisite nod. [Interruption.] I am quite sure the Minister...

indicated assent.

That was a useful lead in to another nod, which the Minister has graciously provided.

The H...

I remind the House that although all Members may speak in the debate, only Members representing c...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

The Bill clearly demonstrates the ...

I appreciate the Secretary of State’s allowing me to intervene on her. I am curious. The consent ...

I thank the hon. Lady very much indeed. I think that that is a matter for the authorities. I will...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I will give way briefly but I want to make progress on the substance of the Bill.

With the greatest respect, this is a matter of substance in this Bill. I emphasise that I do not ...

My understanding is that clauses 1 to 5 relate to England only. I am happy to write to the hon. L...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that one of the greatest achievements of the last five years has ...

I thank my hon. Friend, who is a former Chairman of the Education Committee, and he is absolutely...

I rise to support the Bill on Third Reading.

I welcome my hon. Friend the Member for Darlin...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I might have misunderstood, but when last autumn we discu...

The trouble is it depends on the Bills. Standing Orders dictate when the procedure is used. We co...

Further to that point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Sir Edward, are you sure it is a point of order? Last time you promised me it was, but it was not...

I am sometimes a bit naughty.

I would not say sometimes.

The hon. Lady should not get too worried, because EVEL will not change a single part of a single ...

Thank you, Sir Edward, for that non-point of order. I was absolutely correct: you are naughty.