Phillipson: Family hubs will give parents freedom to focus on loving children

Western Telegraph

5 days ago

The Government announced there will be a Best Start family hub in every local authority in England by April 2026, with £500 million targeted at disadvantaged communities.
This comes alongside plans to offer £4,500 to specialist teachers, in a bid to attract staff to nurseries.
Officials have also said that Ofsted will inspect all new early years providers within 18 months of them opening from next April, under the Best Start In Life strategy announced on Monday.
The Education Secretary has said she wants to 'make sure every child has the chance to succeed', as ministers look to drive up quality and access in early education.
In a statement to the Commons on Monday, Ms Phillipson said: 'We'll introduce a new Best Start Family Service delivered through Best Start family hubs, the first step to a national families service that ensures they can get the right support for their children from conception to age five, giving parents the freedom to focus on loving their children.'
She added: 'Best Start family hubs will be open to all, rooted in disadvantaged communities.
'They will work with nurseries, childminders, schools, health services, libraries and local voluntary groups – a whole community coming together around one goal: to give children the best possible start in life.
'And Our Best Start digital service means we're ready for the future, linking families to their local Best Start Family Hub, and exploring how the power of AI (artificial intelligence) can help parents find the right information.'
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the Government's new strategy would 'help give our youngest children the very best start in life' (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA)
According to the Department for Education, some one in 10 nurseries have an early years teacher. The new incentive scheme of a government-funded and tax-free £4,500 payment will look to keep 3,000 more teachers in nurseries.
These will be targeted in the 20 most disadvantaged communities, the department said.
There will also be a shift towards Ofsted inspections every four years for early years providers, rather than the current six-year cycle.
Officials have also said there will be more money to fund partnerships between nurseries and schools to make transition periods easier.
The announcements have been welcomed by the sector, but one figure has said the 'devil will be in the detail'.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: 'We're clear that this strategy will only work if it is backed up with the tangible support – financial or otherwise – that early years providers and other bodies and professionals need to build an early years system that works for all families.
'But after years of calling for a long-term vision for the early years, there's no doubt that this is a positive development, and we look forward to working with Government to turn vision into reality.'
Sarah Ronan, director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, has described Monday's strategy as 'a turning point in how we value early education'.
'Change won't happen overnight but it starts today with a shared mission to give every child the best start in life,' she said.
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said 'the rhetoric does not match the reality' because early-years providers were suffering from the impact of increased national insurance contributions (Nics).
She told Ms Phillipson: 'Nurseries across the country are on the brink because of decisions her Government have made.
'While it is welcome that the Government has continued the roll out of our early years offer, the lack of compensation for the Nics increase is forcing providers to either hike fees or shut their doors.
'There is no use giving out incentive payments for jobs at nurseries if providers are closing because they've been clobbered with Nics.'