The accusation was made last week in a highly-critical speech by Gill Haynes OBE as she stepped down as chair of the Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE). Speaking at CACHE's annual general meeting in London, Mrs Haynes, who had completed the maximum of six years in post, said the sector had recognised it had a champion in the previous minister for early years, Margaret Hodge, but perhaps had 'not sufficiently appreciated the power of the Treasury and the push of de-regulation in shaping the development of early years and childcare services'.
Mrs Haynes said that while CACHE believed the principle that children are entitled to a trained workforce was 'uncontested territory', it had emerged in the course of the consultation on the new national standards for daycare and childminding that this argument 'still had to be won in some important quarters'.
'Only the most intense lobbying - much of it behind the scenes - led to even the minimum "minimum standards" being adopted. Far from consensus, this is indeed very much contested,' Mrs Haynes said.
She said this attitude contrasted starkly to the experience of the Care Standards Commission, which is responsible for workers caring for the elderly and has established that they should all achieve a level 3 qualification within five years. Mrs Haynes said, 'Why the difference? Because although the Treasury appears to be persuaded that anyone who works with older people is entitled to training, there is still the lingering belief that anyone can look after children - and the secret worry that, if those involved in providing childcare are required to achieve a qualification, there won't be enough childcare to get parents back to work.
'This is a myth and it has to be exposed once and for all. The UK cannot deliver either its economic or social agenda unless the critical importance of high quality childcare, early education and playwork is translated into an unequivocal commitment to address the training and development of the childcare workforce as a key Government priority.' Mrs Haynes, who is also chief executive of the National Childminding Association, called for a 'root and branch' review of the tax system, not limited to the Working Families Tax Credit, to ensure it recognised the cost of quality provision. She said that much more attention needed to be paid to the role of employers in providing childcare.
Mrs Haynes condemned the recent Governmental reorganisation which has resulted in having seven ministers and their civil servants engaged with early years education and childcare. She compared it to trying to build a complex three-dimensional model by putting some pieces in one room, some pieces in another and some in another city. 'Someone somewhere is going to have to do some inder-departmental work,' Mrs Haynes warned.
Richard Dorrance, CACHE's chief executive, fondly recalled that he had first come across Mrs Haynes at a focus group organised by Margaret Hodge at which she was banging the table saying, 'The key thing is, children have rights'. 'If she thinks people are not putting children first, heaven help them,' Mr Dorrance said.
Mrs Haynes is succeeded as chair by former vice-chair Eric Hardy, a former senior education officer at Essex County Council.
