Short-term thinking holds back early years care

A preference for policies that show results within one election term prevents investment in preventative care

Political interests are preventing councils investing in early years care and support because it takes up to 15 years to show results and a return on investment, the Conservative party conference was told.

MP Gavin Barwell said his Croydon constituency was struggling with rising crime rates, and in particular violence perpetrated by those who had never learned other ways to respond to stressful situations. But he warned that the demands of popular politics had resulted in a perpetual failure to invest in early years care. “Why doesn’t it happen? I think the answer to that is about speed of return,” he said. “We have to face facts: one of the problems with our political system is that politicians like policies that we can show will repay before the next election.”

Studies, including Scotland’s Christie Commission have revealed that 40% of public spending is used to cover the cost of failure to intervene, with £200bn spent treating issues such as worklessness, poor physical health and criminal justice. Meanwhile, evidence shows that the first two years of life often determine much of a child’s outcomes in life.

Research carried out in the US, shared by MP Andrea Leadsom, shows that every $1 invested in early years intervention, up to $19 is saved in the long term. She said the current system of working with a child in school or in adolescence was failing. “We’re trying to undo damage that was already created before that child was two years old. Even if you care nothing for human happiness, it’s worth the investment,” Leadsom said.

George Hosking, chief executive of the Wave Trust, called for council spending on support services and children’s centres to be refocused around the prevention agenda, and for local politicians to consider the qualifications required to practice early years care. In Sweden, where infant mortality is just 2.5 children per 1,000 live births compared to 5.1 in the UK, child support work requires a degree-level qualification. Leadsom agreed: “We have got to have staff who understand the importance of the relationship [between child and primary carer] and who can see the difference between a mother who is a bit tearful and a mother who is a danger to her child.”

Hosking said councils that claimed there was too little funding for local government to support early years intervention programmes were not looking hard enough at where, and how, efficiencies could be found. “This can’t be achieved without a fundamentally different way of thinking about this” he added.

But Hosking also echoed Barwell’s view that short-term thinking was a problem. He said that quick results could be found for local politicians who need to demonstrate the value of their policies on early investment, with early results visible within three years. But, he said, “very significant returns” could be measured financially within six years of investment.