5Giving every child the best start in life: a national strategy for England
118.The health, development and wellbeing of the next generation should be protected, nurtured and invested in. We would like to see Government take up the challenge of delivering the second revolution in the early years, which Sir Michael Marmot’s report in 2010 called for. Based on the evidence to our inquiry we recommend the Government develop an ambitious, long-term cross-Government strategy that seeks to give children in this country the best start in life.
119.Five recommendations we have made in this report should form the basis of this strategy:
- The strategy should include ambitious, high-level, measurable goals, which focus on reducing gaps in equalities for the poorest children, and provide a strategic framework under which the Government’s current policies, projects and programmes can coalesce in pursuit of these goals.
- The Cabinet Office Minister (currently the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster) should be given specific responsibility for the development and oversight of a national strategy to give every child the best start in life. That minister should chair a new Cabinet sub-committee, consisting of ministers from across Government.
- Each local authority area should develop, jointly with local NHS bodies, communities and the voluntary sector, a clear and ambitious plan for their area, which sets how they will improve support for local children, parents and families during the first 1000 days and how they intend to achieve national goals. The development and delivery of these local plans should be led by a nominated officer, accountable for progress. Local plans should include a comprehensive assessment of local provision, including targeted and specialist interventions provided locally, and describe how each area will adopt the core principles for local service delivery outlined in Chapter 3.
- The Government should establish a fund to incentivise transformation of local commissioning and provision of services covering the first 1000 days of life in accordance with the principles (as outlined in Chapter 3: ‘proportionate universalism’; a focus on prevention and early intervention; co-design of services with the local community; engaging with and supporting marginalised communities; multi-agency working; and delivering evidence-based interventions). In particular, we would like to see clinical commissioning groups and local authorities pooling their budgets and jointly commissioning services, as part of a shared local plan.
- The Government should publish a workforce plan for all services covering the first 1000 days. The plan should set out how the Government, and other national bodies, will support local areas at a system, place-based and neighbourhood level to enhance the capacity, capability and skill mix of staff, including voluntary staff, who support children, parents and families during the first 1000 days.
120.Enhancing the ability of services to support and empower parents and families to take care of themselves and their children is vital, but not sufficient. If rising pressures, such as poverty, act against the ability of parents and families to create a safe, healthy and nurturing environment for their children, improvements in service provision will provide only a sticking plaster. We hope that this report helps the Government and other bodies, nationally and locally, in their aspiration to give every child the best start in life. By intervening successfully in the first 1000 days, we believe there is an enormous opportunity to improve people’s lives and make society fairer and more prosperous.
Published: 26 February 2019