When public funds are tight, and families' budgets are tight, spending money on things that make a difference is even more important.
The most important measure of success for families in the foundation years is the outcomes of young children.
We know that high-quality early education and childcare narrows the gap, in educational and other outcomes, between those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds and the rest. And I am enormously proud to be working with a sector that makes such a difference.
But there is one big caveat - positive outcomes in the early years hinge on the quality of provision. The major value of services is not just found in the bricks and mortar of buildings, although the physical environment is important in engaging young children and families. It's the ethos, professionalism and skills that professionals bring to children's lives which make the biggest difference.
That means the statistics that politicians typically like to use to judge success - such as numbers of children through the door, or quantity of settings - only tell half the story in early years services.
PAYMENT BY RESULTS
Most of the nursery providers and staff I talk to think that it's important to tell the whole story. That is why we need to recognise the impact of professional expertise on the life chances of the children in their care. This is why we are now focusing so hard on developing ways to reward the sector for the quality of outcomes it produces.
So we are trialling payment by results for children's centres in 27 local authorities. This will help us focus resources on big issues like child development and school readiness, parenting, and health and wellbeing - particularly for families in greatest need. It is also a golden opportunity for early years professionals to be properly recognised for their hard work.
Working with these trial areas, we hope to find much better ways to reward local authorities and children's centres for improvements in outcomes.
CHILDREN'S CENTRES
Over the summer, this same focus on outcomes has been guiding our conversations with many of you about the core purpose of children's centres, and what the best children's centres do to achieve it.
The kind of questions being asked are these: How do you assess need across the local community? How can you provide families with access to universal and properly targeted, evidence-based support that is both affordable and high quality? And how do we make children's centres into hubs for the local community, while making it easier for them to share expertise with other early years settings? How can outreach and family support, delivered through children's centres and alongside professionals such as health visitors and social workers, play an effective role in early intervention and early help?
In November, the National College will be advertising for three children's centre outreach system leaders - people who can work as part of a team to advocate evidence-based practice and advise us all on imaginative and creative ways to grow professional identity.
VALUE OF CONSULTATIONS
This must be a broad discussion. We need early years professionals everywhere to make their feelings known and shape the future of local services themselves.
For a start, I encourage as many of you as possible to feed in to Professor Cathy Nutbrown's review. She is looking at the content of early years training courses, how to develop qualifications to meet the needs of all learners and employers, and how to offer sufficient progression within the sector.
Similarly, do please look out for our consultation on Early Education and Childcare. This is your opportunity to shape the offer of free early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds and how we make sure free early education places are of sufficient quality.
This approach values the best work that early years professionals are doing.
It also means that when we get to the crucial question of how we measure success, we will be better placed than any other public service to show and tell.
