asked the Minister for Health the steps which have been taken concerning the establishment of child care authorities as recommended in the final report of the Task Force on Child Care Services; the steps which have been taken or planned to be taken by child care authorities to survey the need for day care on a regional basis and to provide for these needs; and the steps which have been taken to implement compulsory registration with child care authorities of creches, day nurseries, and commercial child-minding agencies; and the enforcement of safety, hygiene and personnel standards for creches, day nurseries, child-minding facilities and play-group facilities as recommended in the final report of the Task Force on Child Care Services.
Written Answers. - Child Care Authorities.
536.
The Task Force on Child Care Services recommended that health boards should carry out the functions of child care authorities as envisaged in their final report. The forthcoming Children Bill, which I expect to circulate later this session, will give effect to this by extending the statutory powers and responsibilities of health boards in relation to child care services.
The Bill will also provide for the introduction of a system of statutory registration of day care services e.g. creches, day nurseries, playgroups and child-minding facilities. It is intended to prescribe standards in regard to these services in regulations to be made under the Bill. In anticipation of the legislation, I have established a committee, representative of the various bodies having an interest in this area, to advise me on the minimum requirements which should apply in relation to day care services. I expect to receive the Committees report within the next few weeks.
Present policy is that health boards assist voluntary organisations and community groups in providing day care services for children from deprived or disadvantaged families. The boards assess the need for such services on an ongoing basis. In this connection, I might mention that the number of day care services receiving financial support from health boards has increased from 87 in 1981 to over 230 in 1984. The total cost of this assistance has increased from £400,000 per annum to over £1 million per annum in the same period.