21st March 2025
Today, The Health and Social Care Committee has launched a new inquiry on the first 1000 days of life, the period from a child’s conception to age two – widely recognised as a critical period for development which fundamentally shapes long-term health, well-being, and life outcomes.
MPs on the cross-party Committee chaired by Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran have chosen to revisit the subject, in the context of the Government making “breaking down barriers to opportunity” one of its six missions within its Plan for Change and including a commitment to “set every child up for the best start in life” and “create the healthiest generation of children ever”.
The new inquiry will provide an opportunity for MPs to investigate whether progress has been made on outcomes for children and young people since their last review in 2019, examining how effective Family Hubs and the introduction of integrated care systems (ICSs) have been in improving outcomes.
The Committee will probe what the barriers are to delivering high-quality early years services, particularly in Family Hubs and through neonatal and paediatric services, and how these barriers can be addressed. The inquiry will also examine how the Government can most effectively tackle disparities in infant health outcomes, including disparities in outcomes for disabled children.
MPs will also look ahead, to consider what the Government should prioritise in upcoming funding allocations for early years services. Of relevance to health visiting, the new inquiry will consider the principle of ‘proportionate universalism’, an approach which ensures that all families receive some support, and additional support is also available and is targeted in proportion to the level of need.
The Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Layla Moran MP, said:
“There is overwhelming and unambiguous evidence on the crucial importance of the first 1000 days of life in shaping children’s development and outcomes in later life. It is the importance of this short but critical time in a child’s life that is the reason why our committee has chosen to focus our attention on it in our new inquiry. We want to renew political focus on this vital period in a child’s life. As part of our inquiry, we will be looking into variations in provision for infant health and will delve into the inequalities that exist.
“We are today launching a call for evidence to hear from parents, early years practitioners, health professionals, local government, charities and other stakeholders on a range of questions which will inform practical recommendations we make to the Government on how to improve outcomes for children and give every child the best start in life.”
Alison Morton, iHV CEO said:
“We have more evidence than any other generation on the importance of the earliest years of life in shaping health, wellbeing and success across the life-course. Yet, this plethora of global evidence has still not been translated into action to meet the scale of need experienced by our nation’s babies and young children. The message is clearly not getting through to those with the power to drive real change!
“We therefore welcome this Inquiry and hope that it is more than a paper exercise – it needs to tip the balance and drive change in the heart of government to prioritise the first 1000 days. It will undoubtedly expose the hard data and experiences of a ‘forgotten generation’ of babies and young children who have been badly let down by piecemeal policies that have created worse child health outcomes, a lack of support and vast inexcusable inequalities. We cannot tinker at the edges any longer – our nation’s babies and young children who cannot speak are looking to the adults to act now.”
You can submit evidence until Monday 21 April 2025.
