This does not ease concerns that early years policy is poorly aligned with the government's stated long-term delivery priorities for the opportunities mission. More on this in my report with @nehaldavison.bsky.social here.
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

We'll find out more in the coming weeks, but particularly notable that no spending commitment on the Family Hubs programme at this stage.

And nothing I could see on workforce support/training - despite increasing quality one of three early years priorities in the PfC
www.gov.uk/missions/opp...

As expected, funding is geared towards quantity of childcare (supporting the growth mission). Much less investment/focus on policies that will be more critical for narrowing inequalities in attainment at age 5 - as explored in our report here www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Key funding announcements:
- Additional £1.6bn/yr by 2028-29 compared to 2025-26 for the childcare expansion for working parents.
- £370mn over next 4 yrs for new school-based nurseries
- £80mn/yr by 2028-29, shared with post-16 settings, to support free school meals expansion.

Thanks Anna. Yes v important point. Unfortunately it's not reported in the EYFSP data so we can't quantify it but agree on the likely effect. The data also misses other factors - e.g. parental mental health, looked after children - so we draw attention to wider research on those in the report.

And you can find the full report here www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

And check out the @theipaper.com write-up here

inews.co.uk/news/educati...

This is introductory research for the next part of this project - focusing on how to improve policymaking (processes, governance and services) for one particular 'left behind' group. Find out more in the report's foreword, and see our next steps here www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/early-years-...

Current policies are mainly universal, which may benefit children already doing relatively well. We call for govt to consider how it can meet its school readiness target while improving outcomes for those persistently left behind - to support its goal of closing the opportunity gap in a decade.

What does this mean for the opportunities mission?
- Targets are great for galvanising cross-govt action towards a clear, common aim.
- But there's a risk that govt aims for the school readiness target, and inadvertently reinforces the inequalities its aiming to eliminate through the mission.