Peers call on Government for better support for babies and young children

Following the committee’s two-month inquiry into the long-term impact of the pandemic on parents and families, it said that it had heard ‘concerning evidence’ about the impact of over a year of lockdowns and social distancing on pre-school children.

This ranged from children’s opportunities to learn to crawl and walk being hampered by lack of space in inappropriate housing, to their social and emotional skills being underdeveloped as a result of lack of contact with other children and adults.

Despite this, members of the committee said that there has been ‘no equivalent’ of the extra funding that has been made available to enable school-aged children to ‘catch up’ on lost learning.

The letter, from committee chair Baroness Martha Lane-Fox of Soho to children and families minister Vicky Ford, said, ‘Young children’s physical, emotional and social development will almost inevitably have suffered from the lack of contact they have had with the outside world for a significant proportion of their lives; without action to address this, this could have a whole range of consequences for them and for society as a whole in the years ahead.

‘The Government should make the same commitment to helping the youngest children recover from the pandemic as they have for school-aged children. This should include providing the significant additional resource that early years providers will require to respond to the additional and more complex needs of those in their care.’

Early development

A recent survey by the Early Years Alliance found that 59 per cent of providers reported a decrease in the number of children ‘meeting the expected level of early attainment in physical development, communication and language development, and personal, social and emotional development’.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘We know that the first five years of a child’s life are absolutely critical to their long-term development – and yet, even with the recent increase, the proportion of so-called "catch-up" funding allocated to the early years sector is less than 5 per cent of the overall pot. 

‘We cannot underestimate the effect of the last 15 months on young children. Our own research shows that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the early learning of many under-fives, and in particular, their personal, social and emotional development. 

‘Early years providers are doing an excellent job in meeting the needs of the children in their care, but they themselves need adequate support to do so. The Government must stop treating our vital sector as an afterthought and instead, put early years at the very heart of its education recovery programme.’

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said, ‘These are really important questions raised by the select committee. A child’s early years are crucial for their development and life chances – any education recovery plans must start from their early years in order to succeed. Every pound invested in their pre-school years pays dividends later on.

‘Childcare providers and their dedicated professionals have worked so hard throughout the pandemic to support children and their families. They are struggling to remain sustainable with low occupancy rates and infections are on the rise again in many areas, meaning rooms may have to close again temporarily. And some nurseries cannot recruit qualified staff.

‘MPs found earlier this year that 89 per cent of parents believed early years were underfunded. The Government needs to invest more in early years and make sure that investment is following the child all the way to their provider.'


Babies and new parents