Is the government finally behind early intervention?

---

With a number of government-commissioned reviews, early intervention was never far from the headlines during the last parliamentary session.

Frank Field MP kicked off in December with his review into poverty in Britain, in which he recommended refocusing education funding during the early years.

ePolitix.com spoke to Frank Field following a visit to the Wirral branch of Home-Start, a charity that practises early intervention on the ground with 300 affiliated local Home-Starts and Home-Start UK centres offering one-to-one support, friendship and practical help.

Field praised Home-Start Wirral as offering a model of service provision for the future, with a ratio of 25 volunteers to one paid member of staff.

Released in January, Graham Allen's review of early-intervention methods – 'Early intervention: The next steps' – called for all parties to commit to the 'central objective' of early intervention, to ensure 'a social and emotional bedrock for the current and future generations of babies, children and young people'.

Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of Action for Children, released her review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in March.

Tickell brought home the importance of the early years of a child's life in terms of development and recommended a 'slimming down' of the EYFS to make it less 'burdensome' and more focused on 'making children school-ready'.

Next it was the turn of Professor Eileen Munro to call for early intervention, this time in terms of child protection.

Munro's report was praised for taking a different approach from previous reforms that, "while well-intentioned, resulted in a tick-box culture and a loss of focus on the needs of the child".

The government's response to all four reviews – 'Supporting Families in the Foundation Years' – passed under the radar for many, trumped by the appearance of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and son James in front of the culture select committee.

Issued by Sarah Teather, minister for children, and Anne Milton, minister for public health, the report brought together the findings from the various reviews carried out and fully endorsed the need for early intervention:

'It is now very clear that early help and intervention is crucial if we want to support families to get out of a cycle of poor outcomes that repeats itself over and over through the generations.'

According to the report, the government's aim is to 'put in place a coherent framework of services for families, from pregnancy through to age five which focus on promoting children's development and help with all aspects of family life'.

Early-intervention measures the government believes should be on offer include the retention of a network of Sure Start Children's Centres and the offer of 15 hours of free early education for two year-olds from a disadvantaged background by 2015.

Gracia McGrath OBE, chief executive of Chance UK, an early-intervention charity that reduces crime and anti-social behaviour through mentoring, told ePolitix.com that she believes the government is now listening and 'committed' to intervening early.

Throughout recess, ePolitix.com will be focusing on a different policy theme each week. This week we are featuring articles with a focus on education.