Christine
Farquharson, Associate Director
at IFS,
said:
"The government has set itself a
target to have 75% of five-year-olds reaching a good level of
development by 2028. This early years strategy sets out how it
plans to reach that goal, with policy levers trying to shape
children's health, home environments, community services and
childcare.
That breadth could be a welcome first
step towards thinking about the early years system in the round.
But this strategy largely contains a collection of generally
sensible but relatively small changes to family services,
childcare support and the early years workforce, alongside the
much bigger commitment – adopted from the previous government's
plans – to extend funded childcare hours to working families with
children under age 3.
Spending on this latter policy could
reach £5
billion a year by 2028-29 –
ten times as much as the additional £500 million a year, newly
announced in today's strategy. This is particularly noteworthy
because new childcare entitlements will do very
little to directly address
inequalities in children's development. Prioritising childcare
support to working parents may well be a smart move for growth,
but it means the lion's share of the early years budget isn't
directly aimed at the opportunity mission. This strategy doesn't
much change that underlying picture.
Instead, there are hints of bigger
changes to come – the government promises to consult on reforms
to the childcare funding formula by Summer 2026, and to consider
wider reforms to simplify England's enormously complicated system
of childcare support. No one would argue that the current system
is the best we can do. But the timing here is tough: the
government is trying to offer childcare providers generous
funding, stability and reassurance to entice them to deliver the
new working family childcare entitlements. The prospect of a
major reform a few years off will raise concerns among many
nursery owners and managers.
The strategy also commits to
continuing the previous government's approach to integrating
early years services in “Family Hubs”. The principle is sound:
bringing together evidence-based services in health, education,
childcare and additional targeted support can
improve children's outcomes. But this is not – yet – a “new Sure Start”. Even with an
extra £150 million a year, spending on integrated early years
services today will be less than a third as high as peak spending
on Sure Start. And Family Hubs are meant to serve children up to
age 19, not just age 4.
Perhaps some of the most impactful
changes in this strategy will come through the programmes to
support the development of the early years workforce – both in
childcare settings and in Reception classes. Simplifying and
improving the training system will be welcome – though the focus
should remain on the skills these workers bring, not just the
qualifications they hold. The big challenge here will be working
out how to retain excellent early years educators: pay plays
a major
role in retention, but some
providers have been slow to pass on higher funding
rates.
Given the big fiscal constraints the
UK is under, an extra £500 million a year for the early years is
not to be sniffed at. But while this strategy sets the scene for
the government's efforts in the next couple years, it also raises
bigger questions about how the government views the long-term
future of the sector and the balance between supporting working
parents and promoting children's development. What does seem
clear is that there is now a cross-party consensus on the
importance of the early years as an increasingly large part of
the UK's welfare state."
