Member

Finally, Amendment 486 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Russell of Liverpool, also sets out a path to an explicit early years strategy in terms of key activities, including Start for Life and family hubs, solid data recording and collection, and a workforce plan. As my noble friend Lord Young of Cookham said, all too often it is obvious by the time children reach school which ones are likely to struggle, both academically and emotionally. There is clear potential to bring these programmes together with the extended government offer of childcare for preschool-age children, and to focus on some of the key school-readiness outcomes that my noble friends Lady Cash and Lord Young talked about. I look forward to the Minister’s response.