Queen's Speech 2021 - Early Years Healthy Development Review

Early Years Healthy Development Review

“Measures will be brought forward to ensure that children have the best start in life, prioritising their early years.”

• ● As part of the Government’s determination to level up across the country, we are committed to ensuring that the youngest members of society – and the families who nurture and care for them – are given the help and support they need to ensure they can fulfil their potential in future. The Government has an excellent track record for improving outcomes for young children, and spends over £3.5 billion per year on our early education entitlements and to support families with their childcare costs.

• ● We are delivering on our manifesto commitment to roll out Family Hubs, which bring services together and aim to secure greater impact from these services for children and families. The Government is providing a further £14 million investment in Family Hubs to champion the model. The £14 million investment includes:

o A new National Centre for Family Hubs to provide expert advice, guidance and advocacy.

o An evaluation innovation fund to build the evidence base (around £900,000 over two years).

o Data and digital products (through the Family Hubs – Growing Up Well project) that will support the practical implementation of Family Hubs by helping local early years professionals to provide joined up planning and support for families.

● In order to further improve improving how families with babies are supported in the period from conception to age two, the Government will deliver the ‘Action Areas’ set out in the Early Years Healthy Development Review. As detailed in The Best Start for Life: A Vision for the 1,001 Critical Days, published on 25 March 2021, this means we are:

o Encouraging all local authorities to publish a clear Start for Life offer for parents and carers, showing families what support they can expect to receive during the 1,001 critical days from conception to age two.

o Building on the Government’s commitment to champion ‘Family Hubs’, encouraging local authorities to make them a place for families to access Start for Life services as well as advice and support with other issues.

o Designing digital, virtual and telephone services around the needs of
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families with babies, including digitising the Personal Child Health Record – commonly known as the ‘Red Book’ – by April 2023.

o Developing a modern skilled workforce to meet the changing needs of families with babies, looking at new ways to support, train and retain skilled professionals.

o Working across the system to hold local services to account, including through proportionate inspections, and to improve data, evaluation and outcomes of health services.

o Encouraging local areas to nominate a leader and ensuring the delivery of the Review is overseen at a national level.

• ● Alongside the Early Years Healthy Development Review, we are implementing a wide range of policies to improve child health including the most ambitious childhood obesity plan in the world, transformation of children’s mental health and maternity services and a world-leading immunisation programme.

• ● The Healthy Child Programme is the national evidence-based universal programme for children aged 0-19. The programme provides the bedrock for health improvement, public health and supporting families. There is commitment to modernise the programme over the next few years, to ensure the programme is both current in terms of evidence and context.

  Key facts

• ● Leading child health experts agree the care given during the 1,001 critical days from conception to age two has significant influence on a child's future. Experiences during this time have an impact on the health, wellbeing and opportunity of children throughout life.

• ● The Government has an excellent track record of improving outcomes for young children. The proportion of children achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age five increased from 52 per cent in 2013 to 72 per cent by 2019.

• ● In addition, we have spent over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on our early education entitlements and continue to support families with their childcare costs. The Chancellor announced on 25 November 2020 a £44 million investment for 2021-22, for local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers for our free childcare entitlement offers.

• ● Since 2010, all three and four year olds have been able to access 15 hours of early education a week. In 2013, we also introduced 15 hours of free early education a week for disadvantaged two year olds. Over one million disadvantaged two year olds have benefitted from 15 hours free childcare since the entitlement began, and take up has risen from 58 per cent in 2015 to 69 per cent in 2020.

● In September 2017, we doubled the free childcare available for eligible working parents of three and four year olds to 30 hours a week.