Clause 8 - Powers of local authority in relation to the provision of childcare
Childcare Bill
10:45 am
Justine Greening (Putney, Conservative)
The amendments seek to ensure that the local authority’s review of unmet need and its assessment of sufficiency are done robustly. In the child care provision under discussion, the market and the need are changing rapidly. Instead of a poor process, any local authority should have and should have to have a process in place that accepts the dynamic in the market. There is a risk that some local authorities may simply consider provision as it stands, without taking on board provision that will be needed in the future.
Amendment No. 91 gives local authorities more flexibility. The Bill refers to them providing assistance to other local child care providers. We want to broaden that reference to include the provision of services and use of premises. Different councils and local authorities are under different amounts of financial duress. We should reflect that in the Bill by giving them the flexibility to use their resource base to provide assistance to child care providers as they see fit. For example, instead of a child care provider renting premises and then having to get assistance with the rent from the local authority, it may be easier for a local authority to give it the use of a building that is not being used. That could be a win-win situation for the local authority, which might also help regeneration.