Clause 186

Part of – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:15 pm on 26 March 2009.

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Photo of Annette Brooke Annette Brooke Shadow Spokesperson (Children, Schools and Families), Shadow Minister (Education) 9:15, 26 March 2009

I beg to move amendment 424, in clause 186, page 103, leave out lines 7 to 11.

This probing amendment aims to clarify the purpose of the proposed duties of governing bodies for each children’s centre. The amendment would delete that provision. The reason for the probe is that it is very unclear how governing bodies and advisory boards will co-exist. The Conservatives have tabled an amendment in the next group that approaches this issue from the opposite direction, so I hope that we can deal with them briefly and at the same time.

I am particularly concerned about the requirement on governing bodies, because, as the National Audit Office noted, there are many different models of governance of children’s centre. Some are based on partnership boards, steering groups, school governing bodies, boards of community organisations and so on. The differences reflect the diverse practices of the sectors involved in managing the centres, and I applaud that diversity. To define governing bodies will cause confusion, given that a host of different people run Sure Start children’s centres. We need some clarification.

We also have advisory boards. I can see how they could work very well in local areas, and I am fairly relaxed about them being put on a statutory basis. My one issue is with proposed new section 5C(5)(c), which states that an advisory board must include

“parents or prospective parents in the responsible authority’s area.”

If an advisory board covers only one or two children’s centres, parents from the locality only should be included. Most constituencies, for instance, have very different communities with different needs, and I would not want advisory boards to be top heavy with those from, perhaps, the more affluent parts of town. We need a good cross-section. I therefore have a concern about that, but the major issue is that surely, if every centre has to have a governing body, will it not undermine the multi-purpose and community-focus nature of the centres? Will the Minister clarify the respective roles, functions, members and lines of accountability of governing bodies versus advisory boards?