The proposed legislation would require the 150 top-tier local authorities to secure, as far as is 'reasonably practicable', sufficient childcare to meet the needs of working parents and those making the transition to work.
But the Pre-school Learning Alliance voiced concerns that some local authorities will disregard partnership working with private, voluntary and community providers if the guidance is not enforceable by the Government.
Chief executive Steve Alexander said, 'Beverly Hughes is a minister with a track record of listening and acting on it.
'However, in relation to the voluntary sector, the Government has got it badly wrong. Central Government should take responsibility for local authorities, but they seem to be reluctant to be directive.
'We believe a consumer watchdog service is needed that can operate at real time. We need a mechanism in place before the money is spent unwisely and the providers are no longer with us.'
Speaking at the launch of the Childcare Bill, children's minister Beverly Hughes told Nursery World that any inspection process 'will form part of the normal apparatus of inspections of local authorities'.
She said, 'We're going to make sure that there's a very visible internal complaints process for parents within local authorities. Local authorities are going to have to keep a record of any complaints, and records are going to have to be seen by Ofsted and other inspectorates.'
But Mr Alexander said that retrospective assessment would be 'too late', as services would have been developed, capital investment spent and existing, viable settings may have closed as a consequence of poor partnership working.
National Day Nurseries Association chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, 'We believe that targets should be set for local authorities for the involvement of private and voluntary providers, which can be measured via local authorities' Comprehensive Performance Assessments.'
Council leaders also warned that affordable childcare for all would only be attained with increased funding.
Local Government Association education spokeswoman Alison King said, 'We repeat our call for extra investment from central Government to support the creation of a better qualified workforce by 2015. To be on track to meet the Government's ambitions means investing 200m in the next two years over and above existing resources. If the Government can't find this money, the cost will be borne either by parents or council tax payers.'
He said, 'The monitoring must take place from the outset. We work with all 150 local authorities. Most show examples of good practice but there is a renegade of local authorities who are not acting in the spirit of the Childcare Bill and for those, the review process takes place too late.'
