Section 7: Local authority duty to secure the availability of free childcare
26.Subsection (1) places a duty on local authorities to secure free childcare places for certain children who are not of compulsory school age. The operation of this section depends upon further provision to be made in regulations by the Welsh Ministers about—
the type of childcare that must be provided,
the periods for which it is to be available,
the description of the child for whom the care is to be made available (including the age they must have attained).
27.In subsection (3) ‘childcare’ is defined as being either child minding or day care, of a sort which must be registered with the Welsh Ministers(1) under Part 2 of this Measure or care which is approved in accordance with a tax credits scheme made by Welsh Ministers.
The functions of the Welsh Ministers in respect of the registration and inspection of child minding and day care are discharged by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate for Wales.