Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

Jessica Toale Excerpts

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I have heard much about the work going on in Stoke, including the Thrive At Five programme, and I know my hon. Friend met the Minister to talk about that. I would be happy to visit, or perhaps one of my colleagues might be able to, but I would love to see or hear more about what is going on there, because I have heard wonderful things. It demonstrates the value of ensuring that services are responsive to what parents want, as well as there being a clear set of expectations about minimum levels of support alongside that, really targeted to the needs of communities and parents. That was where Sure Start was at its best: listening to communities, working with communities and building that trust, including among families who might otherwise not feel able to access that kind of service.

My hon. Friend mentions the national year of reading. I am delighted with the role he has played to make it a reality that today we are announcing that 2026 will be a national year of reading. It will be a welcome and timely opportunity to spread the joy and love of reading throughout our country to ensure that all our children have access to a fantastic range of books. Perhaps we, as adults, can lead by example by reading a little bit more and not scrolling quite so much.

[Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State and her Department for rightly putting a spotlight on the early years. Before coming to this place, I led a global campaign to ensure that early childhood development was included in the UN’s sustainable development goals, and I worked with the late, great Tessa Jowell to highlight the UK’s global leadership on this subject. It is great to see a Labour Government stepping back into that leadership role, because we know that early interventions are critical, especially for children with additional needs. On that point, will the Secretary of State confirm how SEND provision will be embedded in Best Start family hubs to support parents and children in my Bournemouth West constituency?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for all the campaigning she has done over many years to get us to this point. It is only a Labour Government who would bring forward this kind of strategy to ensure that all our children are set up to succeed, breaking the link between background and success, and ensuring that at the earliest moments in our children’s lives, we give them the support they need. That is why we are setting out, through the strategy, the important work that Best Start family hubs will provide in terms of trained support for children with SEND, so that we are better able to identify additional needs at an earlier point. That runs alongside further funding for early years special educational needs co-ordinators, so that staff in our early years settings are better trained and better able to support families. When children then arrive at school, teachers will already be able to understand where there might be additional challenges or where extra support may be required.