While there is still little detail about Conservative Party policy on the early years, there were further worrying signs that it would slip down the list of priorities if the Tories win the election.
Following comments some months ago that the Conservatives would 'take the foot off the early years pedal', David Willetts, shadow minister for universities and skills, claimed at last week's 4Children conference that 'excessive weight is placed on what happens in a child's early years' (see News, page 4).
This seems to fly in the face of evidence from the many studies in the UK and internationally that have found that extra money invested in the first years of a child's life can prevent far more having to be spent on remedial action later. We report this week on Demos's new report Ex Curricular (page 6), which recommends universal screening of under-fives' development and extra funding for early years work.
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