Andy Burnham’s speech on 29 June offered an intriguing glimpse of a possible new political direction.

Andy Burnham’s speech on 29 June offered an intriguing glimpse of a possible new political direction. While early years and childcare were not mentioned explicitly, they were present throughout as both an underlying influence and a potential solution to many of the challenges he described.

The speech was grounded in familiar themes: social mobility, working-class aspiration, life chances and creating opportunity for the next generation. Alongside these ambitions was a strong emphasis on measurable outcomes, economic participation and employment. Taken together, these priorities suggest that early years services may have a more significant role to play than first appears.

Devolution creates new opportunities

Perhaps the most striking aspect of Burnham’s vision was the emphasis on devolving power and resources away from central government and towards regions, combined authorities and local communities.

For the early years sector, this could signal an important shift. Rather than nationally designed childcare programmes delivered uniformly across the country, we could see greater scope for locally tailored systems that reflect the specific needs of communities and labour markets.

This would place increasing importance on regional partnerships and collaborative approaches. Work taking place through regional structures, may prove even more significant in shaping the future landscape. Local authorities and combined authorities could become increasingly influential commissioners and coordinators of services, creating opportunities for providers that can demonstrate impact and respond to local priorities.

There was also a strong sense throughout the speech that effective public services cannot operate in isolation. Burnham criticised departmental silos and argued for a more joined-up approach to government. This aligns closely with long-standing ambitions within the early years sector to strengthen integration between childcare, employment support, housing, health and family services.

Childcare as economic infrastructure

Although childcare was not directly referenced, the speech repeatedly linked economic growth to people’s ability to work, develop skills and participate fully in the economy.

Burnham spoke about the importance of housing, employment, skills, transport and access to affordable essentials as the foundations of growth. Childcare could readily be added to that list. For many families, access to affordable, high-quality childcare is a prerequisite for employment. Seen through this lens, childcare becomes less a welfare or education service and more a form of economic infrastructure that enables parental participation in the labour market and supports productivity.

If policymakers adopt this perspective, it could strengthen the case for increased investment in childcare provision, the expansion of places in areas experiencing labour shortages and closer alignment between childcare planning and local economic development strategies.

Such an approach would particularly benefit parents returning to work after maternity or parental leave, unemployed parents with young children and families facing multiple disadvantages. The wider economic benefits could include higher employment rates, reduced welfare dependency and increased tax revenues.

A renewed focus on prevention and life chances

The speech also focused heavily on improving life chances. If that ambition is taken seriously, early years intervention becomes one of the most powerful policy levers available. The evidence for the impact of early childhood development on later educational attainment, employment and wellbeing is well established. Although many of Burnham’s examples related to technical education and support for young adults, the underlying logic applies equally to early childhood. Investment in the earliest years remains one of the most effective ways of reducing future disadvantage and improving long-term outcomes. A political agenda centred on opportunity and social mobility naturally creates a more favourable environment for investment in early intervention all the way through to reducing the number of young people who are NEET. This could support greater emphasis on: early language development programmes, school readiness initiatives, targeted support for disadvantaged children, parenting and family support services, earlier identification and intervention for children with SEND/additional needs.

Housing matters for young children too

One area of the speech with potentially significant implications for young children was housing. For many vulnerable families, housing insecurity is a major barrier to healthy child development. Frequent moves, overcrowding and unstable living conditions can affect health, attendance and children’s capacity to thrive across all measures.

Burnham’s support for increased council house building and a Housing First approach could therefore deliver important indirect benefits for young children. Stable housing can contribute to better health outcomes, greater family stability and more consistent participation in early education and childcare. Too often, housing policy and early years policy are treated separately. A more joined-up approach could bring substantial benefits for children and families alike.

Strengthening integrated support

The vision of locally integrated services presented in the speech also aligns closely with ambitions set out through Best Start in Life programmes. A devolved system could create greater opportunities to strengthen links between education, health and social care, including: improved collaboration between health visitors, nurseries and family support services; more coordinated approaches to speech, language and communication development; earlier identification of SEND (and intervention of course), and better support for vulnerable families through integrated local services.

Many areas have already been working towards these models. Greater local control could accelerate their development and enable services to be designed around the needs of children and families rather than organisational boundaries.

What about the workforce?

One notable omission from the speech was any specific commitment relating to the childcare workforce. The emphasis on employment, skills and local workforce planning could create opportunities for the sector, particularly if local areas are given greater flexibility to address workforce shortages. However, there was little indication of how longstanding challenges around recruitment, retention and pay would be addressed.

Without a sustainable workforce, ambitions for expansion and integration will be difficult to achieve. As discussions around devolution develop, workforce policy must remain part of the conversation.

Looking ahead

Andy Burnham’s speech was not an early years speech. Childcare hardly featured at all. Yet many of the themes he championed, devolution, economic participation, social mobility, prevention and integrated public services, have profound implications for the sector.

If power genuinely shifts towards regions and local leaders, early years providers may find themselves operating in a landscape where local relationships, place-based approaches and cross-sector partnerships become increasingly important.

The speech leaves many questions unanswered. But it also points to a future in which early years and childcare are not viewed solely as education or family services, but as essential foundations for economic growth, stronger communities and improved life chances. For the sector, that is a conversation worth paying close attention to. Actually, being a central part of.