National Childcare Strategy: Green Paper (Hansard, 19 May 1998)

§ Baroness Blackstone

My right honourable friends the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for Social Security and Minister for Women are launching a joint Green Paper on the National Childcare Strategy,Meeting the Childcare Challenge, today. In developing our proposals, we have been working closely with my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who has responsibility for lottery funding, and other colleagues.

The Green Paper sets out how we intend to make a reality of our manifesto commitment to develop a National Childcare Strategy. It is the first time a government have taken a coherent and strategic approach to childcare. We are backing the strategy with a substantial investment of public money—over £125 million in England over the coming years—and we are making available £170 million from the Lottery New Opportunities Fund to develop new out-of-school childcare provision.

The Green Paper sets out three steps to the strategy: raising quality, making childcare more affordable and making it more accessible. We will achieve this through working in partnership at local level, building on what already exists. Our aim is to ensure good quality, affordable childcare for children aged 0 to 14 in every neighbourhood, including both formal childcare and support for informal arrangements.

Our Green Paper sets out the principles of the National Childcare Strategy covering the whole of the UK, but the specific proposals for implementation relate to England. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland is launching a Green Paper on the childcare strategy in Scotland today. My right honourable friends the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and Wales are also planning to consult on the National Childcare Strategy in the near future.

The Green Paper has today been laid before Parliament and copies are available in the Printed Paper Office.