Mr Robin Squire: The hon. Gentleman has asked his question with no regard to the background against which we are planning this considerable expansion of places. He knows full well that, depending entirely on where one lives in the country, one may have no nursery place at all or have little or no choice. We already know that, as a result of the introduction of the voucher in phase 1, more places will be...
Mr Robin Squire: East Sussex county council responded to the Department's two recent consultation documents on the nursery education voucher scheme, but ultimately decided not to take part in phase 1.
Mr Robin Squire: I fully share my hon. Friend's disappointment at the local education authority's response: it is a great opportunity lost to parents and to children. If East Sussex had taken part, like Norfolk, it might this week be publishing proposals to provide for 25 new classes covering 300 children.
Mr Robin Squire: I do not need to. Parents will.
Mr Robin Squire: indicated dissent.
Mr Robin Squire: Inspection.
Mr Robin Squire: It is not surprising that there has been much scaremongering tonight, mainly from Opposition Members, about the alleged effect that the voucher scheme will have on local authority funding. Frankly, I remain at a loss, having had discussions for months now, to understand why Opposition Members appear genuinely to believe that nursery vouchers might damage existing good provision. Let me make...
Mr Robin Squire: The Bill sets out the broad framework and the necessary legal underpinning for the grants. It defines what they can be used for and refers to allowing the use of a child benefit database and defining inspection regimes and so on. As I have said—it may even have been in debate with the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Ms Morris)—the grant arrangement will include a great deal of...
Mr Robin Squire: There are significant differences. The most obvious one is that the assisted places scheme operates on an individual by individual basis, in mat the benefit, as it were, that the parent attracts is related to his or her income. With nursery vouchers, we are talking of a standard amount regardless of circumstance. There are other differences, but nursery vouchers are more akin to grants for...
Mr Robin Squire: I would not want to mislead the hon. Gentleman or the House. I was not suggesting that we debate individual circumstances in assisted places scheme debates. I was seeking to show that the comparison that the hon. Gentleman drew relied on assuming that there was a strong similarity between that scheme and the voucher scheme. There are several differences, one of which I highlighted. Another is...
Mr Robin Squire: I sought to point out that the difference was that, in the voucher scheme, we are invariably talking about a fixed sum that, as I conceded and as all hon. Members recognise, becomes money when a provider agrees to make a place available. As the hon. Gentleman is aware, the assisted places scheme sets out the scale of remission of fees that parents will receive according to their income. That...
Mr Robin Squire: rose—
Mr Robin Squire: I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman wants to drown me in praise, as he did earlier, or cover me with whatever the reverse of that might be. He conceded that two Government amendments will allow for precisely what he has described to be dealt with by negative resolution if the House so agrees in due course. Apart from the amount of grant itself—and on that matter I can add little to...
Mr Robin Squire: rose—
Mr Robin Squire: I hesitate to interrupt my hon. Friend's flow, but the figures have been made public. In the first year, we are providing £165 million of new money in phase 1, and £390 million is being provided over the three years. My hon. Friend will recognise that it is not possible to predict exactly how many additional places there will be, but more will be provided in response to the money.
Mr Robin Squire: I intervene only to underline that there is a health check, literally, in relation to all Children Act 1989 registration—an annual inspection. It is one of the three main alternative requirements that every provider must have.
Mr Robin Squire: I welcome the tenor of the debate that we have enjoyed, which echoed that of similar debates that we had in Committee. I make that comment notwithstanding the two further attempts by the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Kilfoyle) to blacken my name and retard my future prospects in an even more public place. However, I would not wish that aspect to be seen to dominate the debate. I...
Mr Robin Squire: The hon. Gentleman anticipates some of my later comments, although I am not sure that I shall eventually give him quite so much satisfaction on that issue as I hope that I am currently giving him. The second aspect involves the publishing of SEN policies. As a requirement of grant, we are requiring all providers to publish their SEN policy so that all parents can make informed choices about...
Mr Robin Squire: I will finish one more sentence before giving way to the hon. Lady. I will then refer to other aspects. I submit that new clause 2, which set out to do the sort of thing that Government amendment No. 35 is doing, would be unnecessary.
Mr Robin Squire: The hon. Lady, in part, gave the answer in her question. Logically, this need would not be concentrated in a particular part of the country—unlike refugees—but would tend to be much more of a general requirement, and it makes sense for that to be part of general funding. The hon. Lady must not take me down the general line of specific grants or we shall be here for a long time. She would...
