Childcare Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-10-14
Topic: Education
Natalie Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I would like to speak to Amendments 24 and 25, tabled by the noble Baronesses, Lady Pinnock and Lady Tyler, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, has just referred, and to which the noble Baronesses, Lady Andrews and Lady Howarth, referred earlier in relation to cross-subsidy On Amendment 24, I thank the noble Baronesses for highlighting the need for the rate paid to be sufficient for providers delivering the extended entitlement, and for bringing to my attention the need to secure provision for children in deprived areas. I understand the concerns they are seeking to address through these amendments, and the Minister mentioned earlier that we share the aim of getting the funding for the entitlement right. We are clear that this funding must be sufficient to ensure that providers are funded adequately to be able to deliver the additional requirements set out in the Bill We have listened to providers’ concerns that increasing government-funded hours will limit their ability to cross-subsidise from parent-funded hours and that delivering at current rates may not be sustainable. That is why the Prime Minister has committed to increase the average hourly funded rate paid to providers. As was mentioned earlier, we are the only party to have made this commitment. We have already committed £840 million of new funding to deliver the extended entitlement, and that is before we deliver on our pledge to increase the hourly funding rate My noble friend Lord Nash has spoken at length about the review of the cost of providing childcare, the purpose of which is to provide a robust analytical underpinning for a funding rate that is fair and sustainable for providers and delivers value for money to the taxpayer. I confirm that the review will include in its consideration the needs of children in deprived areas. I also assure noble Lords that the Government understand the importance of early years education for children from disadvantaged households We know that high-quality early education can lead to higher attainment later but there is a persistent gap between children eligible for free school meals and their peers in the proportion achieving a good level of development in the early years foundation stage profile. This is why we introduced the early years pupil premium in April this year, which provides extra funding to early years settings for each three or four year-old child from a disadvantaged household. We have estimated that there will be around 170,000 children eligible for this extra support in 2015-16. We expect to receive the first data on take-up of the early years pupil premium by the end of this year and will consider these very carefully and take them into account when we develop future policy Turning to Amendment 25, the Government aim to deliver a quality free childcare entitlement, with capacity created cost-effectively without driving up costs to parents. The majority of working families with three and four year-olds already use more than 15 hours of childcare. This means that many children will already be in a childcare place and will not require a new one. Rather, the new extended entitlement will pay for the additional hours parents are already purchasing from an early years setting themselves, helping working families with the cost of childcare There is natural growth in the childcare system but we can, and should, encourage new providers to enter the market or existing providers to expand. Collaborative arrangements across different types of providers and increased flexibility for providers are important elements of this. That is why, for example, under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act, childminders will be able to provide childcare on non-domestic premises The Government have already made a £100 million investment of capital in early years to support the expansion of provision for two year-olds. We believe there is existing capacity in the system to help deliver the new entitlement, and we are continuing to talk to local authorities to increase our understanding and evidence of where this is. The Government are committed to funding the extension of the entitlement at a level that ensures choice and flexibility for parents, is sustainable for providers, and is fair to the taxpayer. Decisions on the level of funding, including any capital, will be made in the forthcoming spending review. I therefore urge the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment.