Early years funding boost to support young disabled children to thrive
4 mins read
Friday 11 July 2025
The Government has launched its Best Start in Life Strategy, which aims to drive up the accessibility of early years education in England and boost children’s life chances.
Investments of £1.5 billion in early years services under the government’s new plans will help increase inclusion, offer more accessible family services in all local authority areas in England through Best Start Family Hubs, and make childcare easier to find.
Contact welcomes plans to strengthen inclusive practice across early years settings and services, along with the commitment to increase funding for providers to support children with SEND. Currently, many parents are turned away from nurseries and settings because they do not have the resources or training to support their child’s needs. The Government’s strategy to invest in inclusion and early intervention comes at a critical time for families.
Contact is pleased to see plans for every Family Hub to have a children and family services professional specifically trained in supporting parents of children with additional needs. And we welcome the commitment to parental engagement in decision making in how Family Hub services are delivered.
Contact’s Early Years lead, Mary Mulvey-Oates, says: “This is great news for families of young children with additional needs. Too often, families struggle to get the support they need for their disabled or neurodivergent child at an early age. Making funding easier for settings to access will help parent carers to feel welcomed and supported in their child’s early days, so they get the right care early in their journey and have the same chances as other children to thrive and learn through play.”
Concerns over ‘school readiness’ targets
However, Contact warned that the focus on meeting a target threshold for 75% of all reception-age children to be ‘ready for school’ may miss those children who are disabled or unlikely to meet the target, which could lead to children who need the most support being overlooked. Contact regularly hears from parents of young children who want more support to meet their child’s needs and not to have to fight for help. Parents want to see schools strengthening their links with early years settings, so they are prepared to support each child. The focus should be on creating readiness in the system—not expecting children to be ‘school ready’ on their own.
It’s vital that the Government listens to parent carers to ensure the changes planned really do enhance the lives of younger children with additional needs, who stand to gain so much when they get the right support early in their lives.
Strengthening Links Between Services
Contact would urge Government to strengthen the link between early years settings and health services and ensure accountability for families. When young children face delays – sometimes they wait over a year – in accessing the right therapies, they risk missing crucial developmental milestones—at a stage when they are growing rapidly. These missed opportunities can have lasting effects on their future educational outcomes.
Read our news story about proposals published in the new NHS 10-year plan for GP-led neighbourhood health teams.
Contact’s FREE early years workshops for parents in England
The Early Years SEND Partnership, funded by the Department of Education, is running more events and training this year to support parents of young children with SEND. As part of this, Contact is offering more of our FREE Brighter Beginnings workshops for families with children aged 0-5 with SEND, covering topics like toilet training, speech, and behaviour. Explore the workshops and book your place.
These workshops are for families in England only – we’re sorry if this means you miss out.
Take a look at Contact’s online early years information, advice and support .
