The first 1000 days of life Our response to the Health and Social Care select committee inquiry

We responded to the Health and Social Care Select committee inquiry on the first 1000 days of life. We outlined our evidence and recommendations to the committee, which includes: 

• A cross-sector, holistic health in all policies approach is required to support good development in the first 1000 days of life and beyond. Any national strategy should adopt at its core an approach of cross-government, cross-sector action and policy coherence on the wider social determinants of health.
• Priority goals should be to address child poverty and its causes, achieve a good level of development at 5 years of age, investigate and take action on stalling infant mortality rates, and focus on preventing adverse childhood experiences.
• To ensure the delivery of high quality early years services, funding must also be provided for local authorities in order to reverse the significant cuts seen in recent years and re-allocate funding more fairly according to local need.
• Preventative, health-creating services that allow for early intervention should be prioritised, with health viewed as an asset and spending treated as a long-term investment that brings benefits to the individual and to society.