2007 No. 1415

Children and young persons, England

The Local Authority Targets (Well-Being of Young Children) Regulations 2007

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force

The Secretary of State for Education and Skills makes the following Regulations in exercise of the power conferred by section 1(3) of the Childcare Act 20061:

Citation, commencement and interpretation1

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Local Authority Targets (Well-Being of Young Children) Regulations 2007 and come into force on 5th June 2007.

2

In these Regulations “foundation stage assessment scales” means the assessment scales described in the Foundation Stage Profile Handbook published by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority2 in January 2003 with reference number QCA/03/1006.

General requirements

2

The Secretary of State may not set targets under section 1(3) of the Childcare Act 2006 in respect of a particular English local authority3 more frequently than once in each calendar year.

3

A target must be set by reference to one or more of the foundation stage assessment scales.

Procedure for setting targets

4

Prior to setting a target in relation to an English local authority, the Secretary of State must—

a

notify the authority—

i

that he is proposing to set the target by a date specified in the notification, such date not to be less than two months from the date of notification; and

ii

of a date, such date not to be less than one month from the date of notification, by which the authority’s proposed target and any representations in respect of the target may be submitted; and

b

have regard to—

i

any target proposed by the authority; and

ii

any representations submitted.

5

Where the Secretary of State proposes to set a target which is different from a target which has been proposed by an English local authority, he must—

a

give the authority an account of his reasons; and

b

specify a date by which further representations may be submitted.

Beverley HughesMinister of StateDepartment for Education and Skills
EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 1(1) of the Childcare Act 2006 (“the Act”) places a duty on an English local authority (“an authority”) to improve the well-being of, and reduce inequalities between, young children in the authority’s area. These Regulations set out the process to be followed by the Secretary of State in setting targets under section 1(3) of the Act with regard to that duty. “English local authority” is defined in section 106 of the Act.

Regulations 2 and 3 provide that targets are to be set no more frequently than once in a calendar year and are to be set by reference to one or more of the 13 assessment scales set out in the Foundation Stage Profile Handbook published by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (January 2003, reference number QCA/03/1006). Copies of the handbook can be downloaded from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority website at www.qca.org.uk or obtained from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Orderline, P.O. Box 29, Norwich, NR3 1GN Ref: QCA/03/1006.

Regulation 4 provides that the Secretary of State must inform an authority at least two months in advance of the date by which he is proposing to set a target and give at least one month for the authority to submit any proposed target and for any representations in respect of the target to be submitted. Prior to setting targets, the Secretary of State must have regard to any targets proposed by the authority and to any representations made in relation to such targets.

Regulation 5 requires the Secretary of State to give an account of his reasons if he proposes to set a target which differs from an authority’s proposal and provides for an opportunity for further representations to be submitted to the Secretary of State.