A charity has warned of a growing crisis facing children under five with more than four in ten parents struggling to access vital child development and parenting support across the North East.

A new report published today (August 23) by the Action for Children finds over a quarter of parents in the region have no access to these ‘lifeline’ services.

Low-income families are particularly affected, with over one third of parents in England saying they have struggled to access early years support.

Sixty per cent of the region’s parents told the charity, they want more high-quality support available to help with their parenting.

With the attainment gap expected to widen even further between disadvantaged children and their peers, the research shows that families who could benefit the most from parenting support services were least likely to access them.

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Concerningly, funding pressures have impacted the provision of early years services over recent years as nationally, the main barrier to accessing support was that the services were simply not available in local areas, with one in ten North East parents agreeing.

The report has prompted Labour MP’s to blame the growing crisis on Tory cuts to early years provision saying they were "nothing short of disgraceful" - a charge rejected by the region's Tory MPs.

Financial barriers were prevalent for parents polled as the cost-of-living crisis worsens.

Parents who weren’t within walking distance of services cited the cost of petrol or public transport as their biggest challenge.

Findings show the most common worries from North East parents about the impact of being unable to access early years support include:

• Feeling isolated or lonely (44%)

• Their own mental health and emotional wellbeing (40%)

• Their child’s ability to make friends and socialise with other children (36%)

• Their child’s ability to share toys with other children (36%)

• Feeling scared, daunted or anxious about issues relating to parenting (32%)

The charity is calling on the new Prime Minister to ensure every family has access to key early years services in their local area as a core part of the ‘levelling up’ agenda with sustained investment for parenting support.

Catherine Joyce, operation director at Action for Children, said: “Every child deserves a chance at having the best start in life, that’s why we’re worried that disadvantaged children are being blocked from accessing the services that allow them to catch up and level up for when they start school.

“We know from our own frontline services that helping families as early as possible is more effective in the long-run so investing in high quality child support and parenting programmes in every community should be a core part of the ‘levelling-up’ agenda.

“We urge the next Prime Minister to take urgent action to deliver a long-term plan for early years services with sustained investment in parenting support to ensure every child in the North East and across the country gets the foundations they need to thrive.”

“That children and families are missing out on vital pre-school support due to Conservative cuts to early years provision is nothing short of disgraceful. They have been failed by a Conservative Government which has slashed funding from Sure Start schemes and willingly presided over a rocketing increase in child poverty.

City of Durham MP Mary Kelly-Foy said: “It cannot be overstated how vital early years services are for the development of young children.

"The pandemic restricted access to early years provision, making it all the more important that access to these important services for pre-school development and social and emotional wellbeing is guaranteed to every child.

"Once again we see our children in the North being failed by this Government’s so called levelling up agenda with 42% of parents struggling to access these vital services.

"As a Mother, I know first-hand that early years provision enhances the life chances of children and their families- that is why the Labour Government created Sure Start.

"By contrast under the Tories families have faced 12 years of austerity and unacceptable cuts to these services and our children continue to be left behind.”

Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham said: "That children and families are missing out on vital pre-school support due to Conservative cuts to early years provision is nothing short of disgraceful.

"They have been failed by a Conservative Government which has slashed funding from Sure Start schemes and willingly presided over a rocketing increase in child poverty.

“Every child should have the opportunity to access this support regardless of their background, ethnicity, or family circumstances but this is less likely to happen after over a decade of the Conservatives in power."

Darlington MP Peter Gibson said: "Whilst these concerns highlighted in the report paint an apparent desert of provision in the North East, the provision of these services in Darlington is quite extensive with multiple baby and toddler groups operating across the town - many of which are listed on Darlington Borough Councils website.

"As for provision of parenting classes, I would encourage people In Darlington to visit the family learning page of Darlington Borough councils website which is offering a range of courses."

He added: "With additional investment coming in the form of family hubs and additional resources from the Youth Investment Fund, our sound stewardship of the economy after the negligent years of Labour are now enabling us to invest more in these services.

"If there are residents of Darlington who feel they are disadvantaged or missing out on something they need having read this report I would strongly urge them to get in touch with me to explore options, opportunities and funding."

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