Evidence-based Early Years Intervention

Martyn Day Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2019 Westminster Hall

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies, in what has been an interesting, informative and wide-ranging debate. I am grateful to the Science and Technology Committee for its work on the report, and to the right hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) for opening the debate on the Committee’s behalf. He gave a thorough presentation, particularly on the importance of the data that was used. I am grateful for his reference to the work of the Scottish and Welsh Governments; I will give some Scottish examples later.

The hon. Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones) linked the issue to poverty and inequality, which are themes that I will return to. The hon. Member for Stockton South (Dr Williams) talked about the parallels with the report of the Health and Social Care Committee on the first 1,000 days, and the importance of early intervention for the child in that period. They are all good lessons that we should take messages from.

As I have mentioned a few times in Parliament, I have never been a fan of acronyms, but I will frequently refer to ACEs. As acronyms go, however, ACE is quite a misnomer, considering the sad catalogue of stressful events that make up adverse childhood experiences, which range from psychological, physical and sexual abuse to a whole range of household dysfunctions.

Earlier, reference was made to the effect that a family member being in prison can have on a child. One thing we have done in Scotland—I am busking here, as the subject takes me back to my council days—is multi-agency working. In those days, the Lothian and Borders Police—but Police Scotland has continued the same theme—worked with local authorities to time their raids on houses so that they could be less stressful, and a support package was in place. That ties in with a presumption against shorter sentences, so that less time is spent in prison for relatively minor offences.

What happens to us as children can have a huge impact on us throughout our lives. We all agree that adverse childhood experiences can have a significant impact on people; indeed, a reasonable body of evidence demonstrates that correlation. We have heard that about half of adults in England have suffered at least one ACE, and while Scottish figures do not exist, they are believed to be similar. I am grateful to the right hon. Member for North Norfolk for pointing out that one in 10 have experienced four or more ACEs, which is truly frightening. I went through the chart of 10 tests, and I am pleased to say that I came up with zero, but many of my constituents did not have as fortunate an upbringing as I did, so there are real pressures out there.

I put on record that the SNP welcomes the publication of the report and will study its findings and recommendations. The Scottish Government have consistently recognised the importance of early years interventions and have prioritised that approach across our public services. NHS Health Scotland says:

“While ACEs are found across the population, there is more risk of experiencing ACEs in areas of higher deprivation. ACEs have been found to have lifelong impacts on health and behaviour and they are relevant to all sectors and involve all of us in society.”

In 2016, the Scottish Public Health Network produced a wonderful report, “‘Polishing the Diamonds’: Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences in Scotland”, which summarised the research available at the time and set out a number of areas for action in Scotland. The report highlights the link between ACEs and deprivation. The experience of four or more ACEs is reported by 4.3% of those in the least deprived quintile and 12.7% in the most deprived quintile, which brings it home that that is three times as likely in the most deprived areas.

Having looked at the data from English and Welsh studies, the report suggests that the Scottish health and economic impacts and the potential economic savings of reducing health-harming behaviours are likely to be “very large indeed”. Preventing ACEs, rather than dealing with the consequences after the damage has been done, makes sound financial sense, as well as moral and societal sense.

As a result of that report, the Scottish Government set out their commitment to preventing and mitigating ACEs in their 2017-18 programme for Scotland, which highlights:

“We now know through research and experience that preventing adverse childhood experiences where we can and tackling their impact where they do happen, can change a child’s life and, importantly, their life chances.”

The programme committed to

“embed a focus on preventing ACEs and supporting the resilience of children and adults in overcoming early life adversity across all areas of public service, including education, health, justice and social work.”

Sadly, while all children are equal in society, not all have the same opportunities. Tackling child poverty is therefore one of the most effective early interventions, and ensures that every child has the opportunity to prosper. Child poverty across the UK was dropping, but the Institute for Fiscal Studies has recently shown that it is increasing again. England is now at 30%, Wales is at 28% and Scotland, which has the lowest figure, is at 24%. As I say, all were falling, but all are now rising again. Scotland may have the lowest figure of the UK nations because the Scottish Government mitigate austerity and welfare cuts, such as the bedroom tax, and have a Scottish welfare fund of £100 million. The UN special rapporteur, Philip Alston, was a critic of the benefits freeze. As we know, 70% of children who are in poverty have a working parent, so it is not about worklessness. There are some real issues that we need to get to grips with.

The Scottish Government’s “Every Child, Every Chance” plan commits to concrete action from across Government portfolios to tackle the key drivers of poverty, including by providing intensive employment support for parents; using new social security powers in an enhanced best start grant, a carer’s allowance supplement and the development of a new income supplement; and tackling food insecurity during school holidays.

I have no doubt about the ability of early intervention to transform lives while reducing costs to the public purse. It is a truly virtuous circle. Childhood experiences shape who we are and how we respond to events in our lives, especially if those experiences have, unfortunately, been adverse. There is much that we can learn from examples from around the UK of good practice in tackling ACEs, and I am grateful to the Committee for highlighting that and for its considered recommendations. I finish with a lesson from Scotland, however: although it would be good to have more detailed information and data, we should not let that delay action.