Oral Answers to Questions

Nicholas Dakin Excerpts

Monday 16th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

No school is better governed in Marlborough, or indeed in Wiltshire, than St John’s. As a result of my hon. Friend’s impassioned advocacy, I will ensure that the necessary posteriors are kicked.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

10. What recent assessment he has made of the effect of reductions in central Government funding on the provision of out-of-school child care.

[The Minister of State, Department for Education (Sarah Teather)]

Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that there is sufficient child care locally to meet the needs of working parents, particularly families with disabled children. We want local authorities to keep parents informed about how they are meeting this duty. We are consulting on whether an annual report would enable parents to hold their local authority to account for the availability of suitable child care.

[Nic Dakin]

One in 10 child care providers report that they might have to close in the coming year. How will the Government ensure that working parents are not abandoned or left facing significantly higher costs?

[Sarah Teather]

There are duties on local authorities to ensure that sufficient child care is available. I remind the hon. Gentleman that substantially more money— £760 million—is going into child care, particularly in early years for disadvantaged two-year-olds. That is new money that goes to disadvantaged areas in particular, where we know that there has historically been some difficultly in relation to early years settings.