5th December 2024
In his speech this morning, the Prime Minister has set out the key milestones for his “Mission-Led Government”. This long-awaited announcement includes a commitment to break down barriers to opportunity and “give every child the best start in life”.
Health visitors in England will be delighted to hear that this includes a commitment to “strengthen health visiting”.
The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP acknowledged that, “for many children today, opportunity is too often limited, and their background can have a decisive impact on the life they are able to build.
“Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. Antenatal classes, health visitors, parenting support, baby and toddler groups and access to affordable, high quality early education and childcare – all are vital to guiding parents and supporting child development.”
The Opportunity Mission is a cross-departmental Mission which is centred on the provision of accessible, integrated baby and early childhood services to build the foundations for future success.
The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, who is leading the Mission to “break down barriers to opportunity”, said “Life shouldn’t come down to luck. So this new government is on a mission to spread opportunity far and wide, to give every single child the very best life chances”.
The Opportunity Mission will break the link between a child’s background and their future success, delivering across 4 key areas:
- Set every child up for the best start in life. This means delivering accessible, integrated maternity, baby and family support services through the first 1,001 days of life; and high-quality early education and childcare to set every child up for success.
- Help every child to achieve and thrive at school, through excellent teaching and high standards. This will include a focus on disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Impact will be measured through attainment at the end of secondary school. The mission will also tackle the generational challenge of school absence, including by bolstering young people’s sense of belonging. - Build skills for opportunity and growth so that every young person can follow the pathway that is right for them. Whether through high-quality apprenticeships, colleges or universities, skills give people the power to seize opportunity.
Progress will be measured through the proportion of young people in education or employment with training, and through the number achieving higher level qualifications. - Underpinning all of these, build family security – ensuring every child has a safe loving home, and tackling the barriers that mean too many families struggle to afford the essentials.
Critically this means tackling the scar of child poverty, which limits opportunities and holds back life chances.
To achieve its ambitions and key milestones, the government has set out the following plan to:
- Roll out government-funded childcare support to improve access, delivering the expansion to 30-funded hours and supporting 3,000 new and expanded school-based nurseries, increasing the availability of high-quality childcare places where they are needed most.
- Work in partnership with the sector, reforming training and support for the workforce to drive up standards. Only by listening to the expertise and experiences of those on the ground can this be delivered together.
The government will work towards a stronger early years system, beginning with offering sustained professional development and working with providers to help spread evidence-based programmes as part of comprehensive plans to drive high-quality early education and care.
They will ensure that the Reception year sets children up for success in the rest of primary school, by rolling out schools’ access to evidence-based programmes that boost early literacy and numeracy skills. - Strengthen and join up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.
This includes continuing to invest in and build up Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes to support early child health, parenting and home learning programmes, and strengthening health visiting services for all families, and improved early identification of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Responding to the announcement, Alison Morton, iHV CEO said:
“If we are to change the story, we need to change the beginning of the story! Today, the Prime Minister has yet again laid bare the challenges that are facing our babies, children and families – we cannot afford to ignore this any longer. Sticking plaster policies and scattergun politics have failed a generation. We are therefore delighted that the government has recognised the importance of investing in its babies, children and families – there can be no smarter investment in our nation’s future than to invest in the people that are its future.
“Today’s announcement recognises that “it takes a village to raise a child” and the importance of partnership working. It is only by working together that we will achieve real change. I am delighted to see a range of policies and milestones that include improvements in early years education, childcare, parenting support and Family Hubs. Health visitors across the nation will also be delighted to see the government’s public statement of recognition of the important role that health visiting services play in supporting early child and family health. The Institute of Health Visiting and the health visiting community look forward to continuing our work with the government to turn this into reality.”
