Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill Debate
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Lord Nash
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Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools (Lord Nash) (Con)
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, for her amendment in relation to Clause 72 and I am delighted to be able to speak about this measure, which will reduce the bureaucratic burden on schools.
Amendment 35AA would lead to a review of the impact and appropriateness of the changes resulting from Clause 72. The intention, as I read it, is that it would be an additional safety net. While I understand these concerns, I would like to reassure the noble Baroness that some 300 schools are already providing high-quality education for two year-olds. We believe that the evidence is clear that primaries running nurseries employ higher-quality staff and it is clear that that results in better outcomes for pupils. It results in better transition for pupils and enables the primary schools to get to know the parents at a younger stage in the child’s development. High-quality checks and balances are already in place. We therefore believe this amendment is unnecessary.
Like any other provider of early years childcare, schools must adhere to the standards set out in the EYFS framework. This is the case for schools that already accept two year-olds and will continue to be the case once the clause comes into force. The framework clearly sets out requirements and standards for learning and development, safety and well-being of children and the appropriateness of accommodation—all the issues, in fact, that this amendment seeks to cover. We have seen how this is working in practice. We ran a demonstration project with 50 schools that take two year-olds. That showed how schools, just like nurseries, carefully manage their provision for two year-olds alongside other nursery-age children—for example, having separate parental access arrangements, accommodation and play areas. What these schools have shown is that some mixing of two year-olds with three and four year-olds has benefits to both year groups, as long as it is managed appropriately. This provision is not forcing schools to do this. There are no targets for the numbers, but we want to make it bureaucratically easier. Schools are already held to account by Ofsted for delivering age-appropriate, EYFS-compliant provision.
As I said, schools are, in fact, already doing a very good job. Of the 294 schools that were accepting funded two year-olds in January 2014, 81% were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, as of August 2014. That is the same figure for primary schools overall and compares well with other early years providers, 80% of which were rated good or outstanding.
Clause 72 will not introduce something new. Rather, it will just remove the bureaucratic burden of separate registration for two year-olds while keeping the rigour of Ofsted inspections—holding schools to account against the same standards as they currently are. Since Ofsted’s recent introduction of a separate early years judgment for schools, the ability of a school to provide quality early education will be assessed very clearly against these standards with a discrete judgment and wording. This is why we believe that we already have the systems in place to continue to ensure high-quality provision and the safety and well-being of children, including two year-olds, in schools, without the need for this separate review.
I hope that the noble Baroness has found my explanation reassuring and, on this basis, will withdraw her amendment.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response. We understand the advantages of removing the bureaucratic burden of having to register separately. We were trying to extend the debate beyond that into some of the other consequences of it. From listening to what the noble Lord has said, he is really implying that, although that bureaucratic burden might well be reduced, they are therefore not expecting a huge expansion of these places, which was my challenge to him. How many extra school places are to be created by this measure? It might reduce the bureaucracy, but it is not going to facilitate a great swathe of extra places. Given that, my challenge to him was that all of the available spaces were being used by the expanded need to fill primary school places.
I understand the need for the initial reduction. We think this situation needs to be kept under control and under review, but I think that will be an ongoing process. At the moment, I am very happy to withdraw the amendment.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
My Lords, Amendments 35Y and 35Z place in the Bill the current permitted staff:child ratios for childminders and nurseries. We believe that these amendments are necessary because of this Government’s public statements and attempts in the past to increase the ratios. This would be all too easy, as the current ratios are in regulations that can be changed by the Secretary of State. We are therefore keen to provide the necessary reassurance and guarantees to parents and professionals alike that the current ratios are safeguarded.
When it was proposed to change the ratios there was a massive outcry from across the sector. It was felt that this move would compromise quality and put children’s lives at risk. As a result, the Government backed down, but there is a real concern that, in a drive to increase the supply of early years places, the Government might revisit their original plan. We believe that the current ratios have stood the test of time in balancing the quality of provision with the costs to providers and, therefore, parents. We are all concerned about the rising cost of childcare in this country, which continues to be a barrier to parents returning to work and a major source of family poverty. The Government’s proposals to offer 15 hours of free childcare and our own proposals to expand free childcare for three and four year-olds from 15 to 25 hours per week for working parents are beginning to address the cost of childcare. However, it is crucial that, in the bid to expand childcare provision, quality is maintained and improved.
Professor Nutbrown, who advised the Government on early years provision, has made it clear that she would not support an increase in the ratios. She quite rightly made it clear that good-quality provision is directly related to the qualifications and training of the staff involved, as well as their capacity to relate to the children on an individual basis. This is crucial to the well-being and development of young children. Our proposals would ensure that a single childminder could care for up to six children aged eight, including a maximum of one baby under 12 months and another two children under the age of five. By anyone’s imagination, that would be quite a workload and it would be a challenge to provide appropriate care across the age groups. For nurseries, there would be one member of staff for every three children under two, one member of staff for every four children aged two or three, and one member of staff for every eight children over the age of three. We would also set out in regulations the minimum qualifications for these staff members. Again, these ratios as they stand sound fairly challenging.
These ratios are not just necessary to support the crucial period of early years development, with all the complexities that we were debating in the Chamber last week; they are also necessary to provide safeguarding and protection for vulnerable children. We are all saddened when we hear of unnecessary deaths when children are in the care of others. It can happen in an instant—one child wanders off or puts something in their mouth without being observed. Nursery staff already work under considerable pressure, and we should not be tempted to add to it. We believe that it is necessary to protect the current ratios and that putting them in primary legislation will provide the guarantee that, if any changes are proposed in the future, they will be subject to full parliamentary scrutiny and debate. I beg to move.
Lord Nash
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her Amendments 35Y and 35Z relating to staff:child ratios.
The provisions in the Bill are about opening up new business opportunities for childminders by allowing them to work on non-domestic premises for up to half their time. This will be welcomed by both childminders and parents. For example, small rural schools may welcome the additional flexibility of bringing in a childminder to run a small after-school club, providing a new and valuable service for working parents. We are not trying to change the fundamental nature of childminding; we are simply giving childminders more flexibility in how they operate their business.
The Government consider it right that all registered early years childminders should meet the same early years foundation stage framework requirements around child development, welfare and well-being, including ratio and qualification requirements , whether they are working on domestic or non-domestic premises. The safety of children is paramount. The English childcare system has some of the highest adult:child ratio requirements in the world. I can tell the noble Baroness that we have no plans to amend the ratios. We think that the current ratio for childminders of 1:6 is right and this is already set out in the early years foundation stage statutory framework, made under powers in the Childcare Act 2006.
These amendments seek to enshrine those ratios and minimum qualifications in primary legislation. The Government consider secondary legislation to be the right place for this. Other ratios, relating to welfare requirements, are also set in secondary legislation and this allows the flexibility to respond to changing circumstances if necessary.
On the matter of defining qualifications and “suitable experience” for those working with children under two, I assure the noble Baroness that existing regulation-making powers already allow terms such as “full and relevant” and “suitable experience” to be defined. There is no need for further legislation on this matter.
The Government are committed to ensuring that childcare places remain of the highest quality, as these have lasting benefits for children. We believe that continuing to ensure that childminders and other providers of childcare meet standards set out in the early years foundation stage is the best way of doing this. I hope that the noble Baroness has been reassured by my response and will be content to withdraw her amendment.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for his response. He said that there were no plans to amend the ratios at the moment and I am sure that that is the case. However, we were doing some future planning, thinking about what might happen in the future, and trying to ensure that there were further guarantees going forward.
The Minister talked about the advantage of the provision being in secondary legislation as allowing more flexibility in changing circumstances in future. That is precisely our concern—that in future, if there is a need for changing circumstances of the kind that I addressed in my opening remarks, such as the need to increase places at short notice for three year-olds or four year-olds, this would be exactly the sort of measure that the Government might bring back into play, given that they have considered it in the past. We believe that there is still merit in having this in primary legislation, if only because, if there were any suggestions of change being necessary, it would enable proper parliamentary scrutiny to take place so that it could not be done simply by the Secretary of State. This may be an issue to which we return. For the time being, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
My Lords, this amendment follows on from our earlier amendment on the proposed expansion of childcare places in schools. At its heart is a desire to ensure that all premises where childcare is provided are of an appropriate standard. We remain concerned that the proposed changes allow large childcare providers to register an appropriate facility in one place and an inappropriate facility elsewhere. This might come to light only when an Ofsted inspection takes place, but it might also be missed by Ofsted, as it would not have an obligation to visit every site. Our amendment would give the Chief Inspector of Schools a wider duty to set down the quality and range of facilities for early years providers that would be judged appropriate.
While we understand the desire to reduce regulation on business, we also feel that it is crucial that the quality of childcare facilities is not compromised. I am sure that the Minister would agree that children’s safety should be paramount, but there remains a danger that the registration of multiple sites could lead to fewer individual inspections. When this was discussed in the Commons, the Minister, Matthew Hancock, made it clear that Ofsted would use its discretion on which premises to inspect, using a risk-based model. But however you look at this, it seems to be leading to fewer individual inspections. We are concerned that standards, rather than improving, will, in fact, go down. Our amendment to require Ofsted to lay down some minimum standards goes some way to addressing this problem. I hope that the Minister can agree that this is a sensible way forward and leaves in place sensible safeguards.
Lord Nash
My Lords, I thank the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones and Lady King, for their amendment in relation to Clause 74, and I am delighted to be able to speak about this measure, which will reduce the bureaucratic and administrative burden on childcare providers.
The amendment would place an additional and specific duty on Her Majesty’s chief inspector to keep the Secretary of State for Education informed about the quality and appropriateness of the facilities and premises used by registered providers of early years childcare. The statutory framework for the early years foundation stage is mandatory for all early years providers, including childminders, and already provides for the safety and suitability of premises, environment and equipment. The EYFS is clear that providers must ensure that their premises, including overall floor space and outdoor spaces, are fit for purpose and suitable for the age of the children cared for, and the activities provided, on the premises. Furthermore, the EYFS is clear that providers must comply with the requirements of health and safety legislation, including fire safety and hygiene. Ofsted already inspects all early years providers against the requirements of the EYFS and will continue to do so.
To ensure the safety of children, childcare providers will still be required to obtain approval from Ofsted before they can operate from new or additional settings. Furthermore, Ofsted will continue to inspect all Ofsted-registered early years settings and carry out sample inspections of later years settings, as it does now. However, on adding additional premises to an existing registration, Ofsted can use a risk-based approach to decide whether they need to visit all premises before an Ofsted-registered provider can operate from them. For example, where an outstanding provider is acquiring existing childcare premises which are already registered as an early years setting, Ofsted may decide it is not necessary to visit those premises again until the next inspection.
More generally, if Ofsted receives a complaint or has concerns about the quality and appropriateness of the facilities and premises of any of the settings which it regulates, it has the power to take immediate action and can inspect, investigate and suspend settings where necessary. Section 118 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, which sets out the functions of the chief inspector, including functions relating to early years provision, already places a duty on the chief inspector to inform the Secretary of State of matters connected with activities within his remit, including quality and standards.
Furthermore, if requested to do so by the Secretary of State, the chief inspector must provide the Secretary of State with information or advice on such matters relating to activities within the chief inspector’s remit as specified in the request. The chief inspector can also give advice on any matter within his remit, including advice relating to a particular establishment, institution or agency. Section 118 is wider ranging than early years functions and it would not be appropriate, therefore, to include such a specific or prescriptive measure about early years premises and facilities. However, as part of his annual report, the chief inspector can also include information on the quality and appropriateness of the facilities and premises where he considers it appropriate to do so.
For these reasons, I do not believe there is a case for placing an additional or specific duty on the chief inspector. I hope that the noble Lady has found my explanation reassuring and, on this basis, will withdraw the amendment.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
I thank the Minister for that response. I was with him when he started because I thought he said that what is in our amendment already happens, in which case I would have been very pleased to withdraw it. However, as he went on he began to say that, although this was something that was within the chief inspector’s potential functions, it was not something that was required. I would be grateful if he would clarify what exactly, at the current time, the chief inspector’s responsibilities are. I am not going to argue about whether we have put the amendment in the right place—we may well have put it in the wrong place—but is it part of his current functions to advise on the quality and appropriateness of the facilities and premises used by registered providers? If it is, I will be happy to withdraw the amendment.
Lord Nash
I hope that I can clarify the situation. We are talking about adding additional premises to an existing provider. Of course, these might be premises that have already been used for such provision, or it will be pretty obvious—Ofsted can tell from the information it has—that a provider will be suitable because it is of a very high quality and Ofsted does not need to visit them. Obviously, if it is a new provider or premises which have never previously been used for the purpose, I suspect that Ofsted would want to visit them.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
I can see that this might be something that takes a longer discussion, which we may have outside this Room. I was not arguing with what the Minister said, I was just asking whether the more general duty was already on the shoulders of the chief inspector. I am not sure that he clarified that, but I am very happy to have this discussion elsewhere.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
In that case, I am very happy to withdraw the amendment.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
My Lords, one of the lessons we are taking from the increasing body of evidence on early years intervention is that you have to start early. Traditionally, it has been seen that preschool and nursery care was key, but we now understand much more about the situation. The way a child’s brain develops and its physical and emotional development begins to be shaped from the moment of birth and there is a crucial window between the ages of nought and three where development sets up a child for life.
This is why the previous Government set up the Sure Start programme. The aim was to provide a one-stop shop for families and young children to access support and services. But, of course, the key to getting new young parents through the door is to make contact with them and encourage their participation. That is why we proposed in the Children and Families Bill that greater opportunities to register births at children’s centres would provide an excellent way to make the first introductions.
Our amendment concerns one aspect of data sharing: sharing information about live births. The amendment would require NHS trusts to share with local authorities details of live births to parents resident in their areas. We believe that this is an important requirement to provide greater safeguards for vulnerable babies as well as ensuring that local authorities can plan and provide appropriate family services in their areas. They need accurate information on the number of live births as well as the individual details to ensure that the services are targeted effectively. This would also enable children’s centres to improve their outreach work with new families who have not been in contact with them. Arguably, these are the families who are hardest to reach and most in need of support.
I understand that the national picture on this remains patchy. Some health trusts are willing to share this information while others have concerns about confidentiality. We need to address this reluctance to share this crucial information and our amendment provides the impetus to do this.
Obviously, it would be necessary to provide more detailed advice about the amount of detail to be provided and the legitimate uses to which it can be put, and it would clearly be necessary to ensure that the information did not fall into the wrong hands. However, this is a challenge about data sharing that the Government face in numerous aspects of their work. It has been overcome elsewhere and it can be overcome here. So I hope that the Minister can agree to take our amendment on board, recognising the great advantages for child safety and child development that would flow from it.
Also, when we raised these issues during the Children and Families Bill, it was reported that the department was already considering how best to improve this situation. The Minister subsequently wrote to update us on the work of Jean Gross’s task-and-finish group, which was exploring how to overcome these barriers. However, despite welcoming her report, it is not clear whether anything has really changed. There still appears to be reluctance on the part of health trusts and local authorities to facilitate this exchange of information. I would like to ask the Minister for an update from the department on its follow-up to the Gross report and what evidence it has of anything changing on the ground. Otherwise, I hope that he can support our amendment. I beg to move.
Lord Nash
My Lords, I am sympathetic to the aims of these amendments. It is essential that health services and councils collaborate effectively and share information to do that. But we do not think it is necessary to put new requirements in primary legislation. There are no legal impediments to NHS trusts sharing live birth data with local authorities. They are not confidential data. Birth registration data are already publicly available, and local areas should and are using partnership agreements or protocols to make data sharing as effective as possible.
The statuary guidance for Sure Start children’s centres is clear that health services and local authorities should share live birth data with children’s centres regularly. Children’s centres are successfully reaching out to those families most in need, with 90% of eligible families registered. But we are not complacent. We will continue to encourage NHS trusts and local authorities to review and consider their local protocols and practice on sharing information. The Government’s response in November 2013 welcomed the Jean Gross group report on information sharing in the foundation years and our strategic partner, 4Children, is disseminating best practice information. Since we debated similar matters during the passage of the Children and Families Act 2014, we have also commissioned the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to develop training materials to support health professionals and early years practitioners with information sharing. I hope that this explanation reassures the noble Baroness and that, on that basis, she will withdraw her amendment.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
My Lords, Amendment 35AD has been tabled in my name and that of my noble friend Lady King of Bow. This amendment requires the Chancellor to assess the benefits of top-up payments to those with parental responsibility for three and four year-olds. It then requires the Chancellor to compare the likely benefit to those same families of Labour’s policy of funding 25 hours per week of free childcare. Figures from the House of Commons Library show that Labour’s policy will benefit an estimated 436,000 three and four year-olds. In hard cash terms, this means a benefit of more than £2,500 per family who qualify, in addition to top-up payments.
The purpose of the amendment, then, is to get the Treasury to carry out a review of the likely benefits to these families. After all, at a time when incomes of hard-working families are being remorselessly squeezed, do the Government not owe it to those families with three and four year-olds to consider which policies will help them most? Labour’s policy is a fully costed spending commitment, which will be paid for by an increase in the bank levy. We will also introduce a primary childcare guarantee to help parents manage the logistical nightmare of before and after-school care. Again, this is in addition to the provisions made by the Bill.
One of the purposes of this amendment is to highlight the varying benefits to parents of different approaches to childcare provision. The Government’s approach, as the Minister will be very well aware, is demand-led. This means that subsidies such as the Government’s tax-free childcare, where cash support goes to parents and then on to the childcare providers, often leads to those providers simply artificially inflating childcare prices. Instead, the alternative approach of our party is modelled on supply-led government funding for childcare. For example, this would include measures such as extending free entitlement, where support goes directly to childcare providers. This approach has been supported by think tanks such as the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Resolution Foundation. Both these organisations presented evidence, based on international examples, that supply-led models are far more effective at supporting hard-pressed parents than demand-led subsidies.
If the Government will not think again immediately on this issue but are genuine about the interests of hard-pressed working families, they will surely back this amendment to conduct a Treasury review and ensure that we can all share in the facts of the situation. I beg to move.
Lord Nash
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones and Lady King, for their amendment and for the opportunity to debate the important matter of the Childcare Payments Act. As noble Lords will be aware, this Act introduces the tax-free childcare scheme announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his 2013 Budget. Once it is in place, the Government will meet 20% of eligible working families’ childcare costs up to an annual maximum of £2,000 for each child. That is the equivalent of basic-rate tax relief on childcare costs of up to £10,000 per child.
I am aware of the Labour Party’s policy to increase the 15 hours of childcare to 25 hours. The noble Baroness said that this is fully costed and will be paid for by the bank levy. That is interesting, as that would make it the 12th time that the Labour Party has spent this money and therefore it would be totally unfunded. It has also costed the increase at £800 million. However, we believe that it would cost £1.6 billion, and that is on the basis that this extra increase in demand would not put prices up, which providers tell us it would. Indeed, they say that they would struggle to provide these places. We have increased the number of places by 100,000, which is a remarkable achievement, but we do not think that it would be right to put this pressure on the system at this time. It is a question of balance between parental care and childcare.
The amendment concerns the impact of the Act within the context of the Government’s wider track record. It would require the Chancellor of the Exchequer to review its effectiveness and publish his conclusions. The 2014 Act received Royal Assent on 17 December and we now move to the important phase of implementation. I understand the noble Baroness’s desire to debate this matter here, given that the Act was a money Bill with little opportunity for such debate, and I hope that I will be able to reassure her in relation to the amendment.
Amendment 35AD would require the Chancellor of the Exchequer to publish, within three months of the passing of this Bill, an assessment of the benefits of the scheme under the Childcare Payments Act to parents of three and four year-old children. It would also require those benefits to be assessed in addition to the likely benefits of funding 25 hours of free childcare.
This Government fully understand the importance of high-quality early education for this age group. That is why we funded an increase from 12.5 to 15 hours a week of early education for three and four year-olds. However, it is important to recognise that the cost of childcare is not just an issue for children under five but also an issue for school-age children. For many working families, the high costs of childcare make this one of the largest parts of the household budget. This Government believe that there is a powerful case for improving access to childcare throughout childhood to ensure that parents are supported to work if they choose to do so.
The introduction of the new scheme provided for in the Childcare Payments Act for children up to the age of 12 will build upon the £5 billion per year that the Government already spend on early education and childcare. It will help many more parents to meet these costs, including those such as the self-employed, who cannot access support under the employer-supported childcare scheme which it will in time replace.
The Government have already made a commitment to review the impact of the new scheme two years after its full implementation. This was set out clearly in the impact assessment published last year. The scheme will become available only from the autumn of this year, and it is important to allow time for the measures to properly bed in before conducting a review. Therefore, no purpose would be served in carrying out a review so soon.
I hope that the noble Baroness will be reassured that the intention of her amendment is already being met without the need for further legislation. On that basis, I ask her to withdraw it.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
I thank the noble Lord for his comments. Interestingly, the Institute for Fiscal Studies says that, of all the parties, our costings are the only ones that have been carefully and cautiously costed. Therefore, I think that we can dismiss the noble Lord’s rather wild, or alternative, calculations. As we know, the Government’s discredited calculations were widely commented on at the time they made them public, so I do not think that there is any credibility in that particular argument.
I welcome the fact that the noble Lord has said that there needs to be a review. We were interested in a review earlier than that two-year cut-off point, as he knows. This issue is crucial and it may well be that two years is too long to let the situation drag on. It is particularly crucial because, as he will again know, a lot of the private nurseries are refusing to take part in the Government’s free childcare offer. It was publicised quite recently by the National Day Nurseries Association that one in seven of England’s 18,000 nurseries are refusing to take part. There is a supply-side problem. On the Government’s figures 41,000 children eligible for the free scheme are yet to find a place.
We are all in favour of increasing childcare and we all have our different models for doing that. We believe that ours is more cost-effective and would be more effective than those proposed by the Government. Anything that invests in childcare is obviously to be welcomed, but, as I say, I believe that our scheme is better costed and would be more helpful to hardworking families in the longer term. I take note of the fact that there will be a review. We would have liked a review earlier, but I am sure that in the mean time there will be lots of public debate about this issue. If there is not an official review we will continue to tease out the issues that arise from the alternative policies. I therefore withdraw the amendment.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 35AE, tabled in my name and that of my noble friend Lady King of Bow. This amendment requires the Government to go further than review the benefits to families of the fully funded proposals set out by Labour for parents of three and four year-olds. This amendment requires the Chancellor to review the impact of childcare costs in the round.
Neutral observers might be forgiven for thinking the Government do not recognise the current crisis facing working parents with children. The figures, which have been widely quoted, are quite shocking. Since this Government came to power, real wages have stagnated or fallen, yet childcare costs have increased. They have increased by a staggering degree, spiralling by 30% since this Government came to power—five times faster than wages. There has been a childcare crunch. The number of early years childcare places available has fallen by 42,000 across England and vital support for childcare costs have been slashed, with some families losing up to £1,500 per year.
Our analysis of the latest figures from the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, along with analysis by the House of Commons Library, shows that working families have been hardest hit by this Government’s tax and benefit changes, even taking account of the rise in the personal allowance. For example, a family with both parents in work will be more than £2,000 per year worse off by the time of the next election. Of course, these changes are in addition to the impact of the unprecedented fall in living standards in recent years, where wages have fallen in real terms, leaving working people a further £1,600 a year worse off on average since 2010.
On this side of the Committee, we think it is unacceptable that some of the most vulnerable families face this childcare crunch, hit with reduced support, fewer places and soaring costs. We believe the very least that the Government can do is to agree to this amendment, which simply requires the Treasury to review the impact of childcare costs, including the average cost of childcare for parents in work, taking into account the other changes to the tax and benefits systems. I beg to move.
Lord Nash
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.
Lord Stoneham of Droxford
May I briefly say that I share the thoughts of the noble Lord, Lord Freeman, and can extend them from my business experience? I have very little experience to give on the education side but, as a recipient of skills and as an employer, I have strong views on the development of the careers service. There is widespread criticism of the careers service throughout the business community, which is deeply sad. This reflects the fact that we still have a long way to go in developing partnerships locally, between local businesses and schools. We must make sure that these services are provided not just for the local school but in partnerships, so that access to the services is wider than it is to school leavers, and that we put much more emphasis on the merits of technical education rather than academic prowess. The Government are looking at this area but they need to give it more attention. We will be looking at how the thinking develops as the Bill goes through the House.
Lord Nash
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones and Lady King, for this amendment and for raising the important matter of careers guidance. I hear what the noble Baroness says about not carrying on the economic batting backwards and forwards. I am sorry to hear it, because I was rather enjoying it, but I agree that, in the interests of time, we should stop. However, I must point out that she did say that the Chancellor had failed to reduce the deficit and, of course, it is a clear and unquestionable fact that this Government have substantially reduced the deficit we inherited from the previous Government. We are absolutely committed, also, to ensuring high-quality careers advice and I hope to reassure the noble Baroness that sufficient action is in train.
The Government commissioned Ofsted in 2012 to carry out a thematic review to examine the impact of the statutory duty on schools to secure independent careers guidance during its first year of operation. Ofsted’s report, published in September 2013, found that only one in five schools ensured that all students in years 9 to 11 received sufficient information to consider a wide breadth of career possibilities. This is not surprising. The guidance on careers that this Government took over was in a very poor state: virtually nobody had a good word to say about the Connexions service, including Alan Milburn. That is why we put the responsibility for providing good careers guidance on to schools.
This, however, is only a very recent development and it is not surprising that it has not immediately transformed provision. We have debated careers guidance on many occasions and there seems to be a perception among some noble Lords that we should hark back to some former golden age of careers guidance, which I certainly do not recognise. Careers guidance in schools has, in recent times, been poor and we have taken strong action to improve it. However, in response to the Ofsted findings, we took action, including publishing statutory and non-statutory guidance, strengthening our accountability framework and reshaping the role of the National Careers Service.
The new statutory guidance, effective from September last year, provides a clear framework for schools. It recognises that face-to-face guidance delivered by careers advisers is an important element of a varied programme of high-quality support, alongside other elements including employer contacts, work tasters, mentoring and online provision. Of course, we know that a number of commentators, including McKinsey, have said that active engagement with places of work is of far higher quality than face-to-face career guidance for most pupils.
Improvements to the National Careers Service website and helpline have made it more accessible through a range of digital channels, including Skype, and mobile phone applications. There is new content on the website written specifically for young people. Youth charities and young people are informing further developments. We have continued to listen to a number of respected contributors in this area, including the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and the Education Select Committee of this House. We have listened to schools, colleges, employers, parents and young people themselves. I pay generous tribute to my noble friend Lord Young for his invaluable work in this area. His report, Enterprise for All, has informed our thinking about the way forward. All have made it clear that many schools and colleges still require additional support, so, on 10 December last year, the Government announced the establishment of a new employer-led careers and enterprise company, chaired by Christine Hodgson, Chair of Capgemini UK, who has a strong track record of developing young talent.