Westminster this week - Childcare Bill providing free childcare dominates parliament this week - another manifesto commitment fulfilled

Today sees the debate on the Childcare Bill
Details can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32896284
The extended free childcare entitlement for working parents of three- and four-year-olds will provide eligible parents with a total of 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks or the equivalent number of hours across more weeks per year. This dominates the week which sees full debate of the Charities Bill and an opposition day debate. I have a variety of other meetings and jobs as a whip this week which I will blog more on later.

Childcare Bill in parliament today - fulfilling our pledge to provide 30 hours free childcare

In England, all three- and four-year-old children, and disadvantaged two-year-old children who meet the eligibility criteria, are currently entitled to 15 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks of the year. The Childcare Bill would provide for an increase in the entitlement to free childcare to 30 hours a week (for 38 weeks of the year) to be made available to eligible working parents of three- and four-year-old children in England. The Bill would also require English local authorities to publish information about the provision of childcare, and other services or facilities which may be of benefit to parents or prospective parents, or children or young persons, in their local authority area. The Government has stated that the increased entitlement would be implemented for all working parents from September 2017, with trials being introduced for some families in September 2016. We debate the matter in detail on Wednesday afternoon. Fuller details of the passage of the bill through parliament are here:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/childcare.html

Breakfast with BBC Radio Newcastle live in Westminster

Got up at 6 to cycle in to be interviewed by Charlie Charlton this morning as dawn came up over the House of Commons. The eagle eyed will spot Big Ben in the background, and that Charlie is wearing her Children in Need blue coat, that was saved from a gunging in Hexham last year. I am in my cycling gear obviously! We discussed help for businesses, child care and the aspirations for the North East.
On child care the entitlement to free childcare for three and four year olds has increased to 15 hours a week. This equates to a saving of £2,200 per year.  For the first time, two year olds also get 15 hours of free childcare. Parents on tax credits can also claim back against additional childcare hours, saving them almost £6,370 per year. It is really popular locally in Northumberland. Now back in the Commons and will be helping guide the Counter Terrorism Bill through the Commons today.

Specifics on child care, pupil premium and apprenticeships

The wealthiest bear the greatest burden of taxation and that resources are targeted at to those most in need. That to me is compassionate conservatism. For 13 years under Labour the top tax rate was 40%. It is now 45%. And on the specificvs of how the state spends its money we are targetting resources:

Take nursery education: the spending round confirmed that the government will continue to fund free childcare places for 3 and 4 year olds and that it will extend this to the most disadvantaged 2 year olds later this year. What a contrast to Labour’s legacy of unaffordable childcare, where working mothers would only break-even on childcare costs after working for 4 months.

The pupil premium: which is being protected in real terms. This allows schools to provide targeted support to disadvantaged pupils. The conservative element is that headteachers get to decide how best the £900 per pupil is spent.

Apprenticeships: and again the government is directing funds to give young people the skills they need to succeed. Locally apprenticeship starts have increased by  over 50 per cent in the last year.

Real terms growth in the NHS and social care budgets show a commitment to the social contract with the British people. This is a social contract, not a socialist contract. Increased NHS spending is being combined with stripping out unnecessary tiers of management and bureaucracy, and enhancing patient choice.

Pensions: Towards the end of the life cycle, the triple lock guarantee that the basic state pension increases each and every year by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5 per cent.

Compassionate Conservatism is not just about spending. The chancellor’s cradle to grave conservatism is matched by tough reforms to the welfare state, the introduction of Universal Credit, and getting 1.5 million people back into work. Wealth has been redistributed from the rich to the poor by raising the tax threshold to £10,000. The rich have been taxed more every year under this government than they ever were under Gordon Brown, confirmed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Cradle to grave conservatism is not a left-wing agenda. It is in the great tradition of conservative social reform. It is possible to be a compassionate government without saddling future generations with debt