A statistic that does not move quickly enough has a subtle revealing quality. By 2028, 75% of five-year-olds in England are expected to have reached a good level of development. As of right now, the percentage is 68%. This disparity, which amounts to seven percentage points, or about 130,000 kids, is more than just a policy shortfall; it also represents a group of actual kids who are beginning school without the language, social skills, or emotional preparedness that will influence their lives for the next ten years.
The Local Government Association recently released a study that examines what is truly effective and what continues to stand in the way, based on interviews with councils throughout England. The results are not so much a revelation as they are confirmation of what many in the industry have long stated: a lack of specific programs is not the issue. It is the lack of interoperability between those programs.
According to the research, local governments that are truly making progress are typically those where family support services, health care, and education are operating more like a cohesive system. Children fall through gaps that no single service is able to fill when that coordination breaks down, which happens frequently. At a two-year check, a health visitor may identify a developmental concern, but if that information is not meaningfully shared with a local nursery or family hub, the chance to take early, covert action is lost.
One aspect of that issue is data sharing. Early need identification is still inconsistent due to poor information flows between services. Certain families are getting timely and focused assistance. Others aren’t, and the difference usually stems from luck and postcode rather than anything more intentional.
Another level of difficulty is added by the workforce picture. The early years sector has long struggled with recruitment and retention. Developing a plan centered on integrated, superior service is one thing. Staffing it is a different matter. There is a valid argument that no amount of strategic ambition at the national level can solve a problem that stems from years of underinvestment in the people doing the work, and the research indicates that this is a structural barrier rather than a transient pressure.
Many people have praised the government’s Best Start in Life strategy, which was released earlier this year. It is a significant commitment to extend family hubs to all local authorities. Additionally, a digital offer for families, better health visits and maternity support, and a local outcomes framework to coordinate services around common objectives are all promising. These are not insignificant issues. However, in a different report released this week, the Centre for Young Lives makes an important point: ambition and a target are not the same as a plan.
The clear historical allusion in this case is Sure Start. It received funding of about £1.8 billion annually at its height, and there is strong evidence of its long-term effects, including improvements in health, education, and even youth justice outcomes years later. Over a three-year period, the family hubs program will use about £500 million. Although not totally accurate, the comparison is unsettling because governments hardly ever have the same amount of money twice. What matters more is whether the infrastructure surrounding those hubs can truly withstand the demands placed on it and whether the current investment is being made where children truly need it.
The 2028 goal’s viability is still up for debate. That is math, not defeatism. The structural obstacles noted in both reports are not the type of thing that reacts rapidly to strategy documents, and the rate of improvement required to close the remaining gap in the time available is steep. Local councils appear to be saying, rather consistently, that they are aware of what works. They require national guidelines that view integration as a necessity rather than an ideal, the funding to maintain it, and the data infrastructure to take early action.
The children who will begin school in September 2028 are currently being born. That is a scheduling reality, not a metaphor. The window for the earliest and most economical interventions is already open and won’t remain that way for very long.
