My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones and Lady King, for Amendment 35AE, which is a companion to Amendment 35AD, which we have just considered. I thank the noble Baroness for her economics lesson but I will not take lessons from the Opposition on financial management, given the appalling state they left the public finances in when they left office nearly five years ago.
Amendment 35AE would require the Government to publish a triennial review of the impact of the Childcare Payments Act on the cost of childcare.
I share the concern of the noble Baroness about the impact that high childcare costs have on working families, and for that reason the Government are making significant reforms to support the childcare sector to increase the supply of places. These are designed to ensure that any increase in demand for childcare will be matched by increased supply rather than increased costs. The latest figures show that there are around 100,000 more childcare places than in 2009. This is a remarkable achievement by the Government. In addition, we are making start-up grants of up to £2 million available to help people to
set up new childcare businesses and to make up to 32,000 good and outstanding childminders automatically eligible for early education funding.
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Moreover, we are making it simpler and easier for schools and childcare providers to work together to increase the amount of childcare available on school sites. Only last year we created childminder agencies which will improve the support available for both childminders and parents, and we are simplifying existing regulatory frameworks to allow nurseries to expand more easily. The Government fully understand that childcare can be an expensive outgoing for many families across the country. Childcare costs increased substantially under the previous Government. They rose by nearly 50% between 2002 and 2010. The average cost of childcare rose faster than inflation for seven years. After 12 years of consistently rising prices the costs of childcare in England under this Government have stabilised for the first time. Indeed, the costs of some of the most popular types of childcare are actually falling. That is a clear demonstration that this Government’s reforms are making a real difference to families across the UK. I hope that the noble Baroness will be reassured that the intention of her amendment is already being met. I therefore ask her to withdraw it.