The new Labour government has made a commitment to support the early years sector, as well as launching a curriculum review. This presents us with an opportunity to revisit Labour’s 2007 Children’s Plan and provide insight into existing gaps in, and new challenges, for the current system.

Labour’s Children’s Plan set out a holistic approach for supporting families, children and young people. A key ambition was to improve outcomes for children in the early years. Since its publication, however, there have been numerous changes to the sociopolitical landscape, not least the disruption and devastation caused by Covid-19, and many children are still experiencing early and persistent inequality.

This special issue not only provides an overview of the early years landscape, but also serves as a call to the new Labour government to use these findings to underpin evidence-based action when developing their early years policies. Moreover, we provide specific recommendations for tackling persistent inequalities in order to improve the life chances of children and families across the UK.

The contributions explore:

• a comparison of early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) outcomes before and after the pandemic, revealing areas of widening disadvantage and identifying vulnerable groups of children
• the importance of early language skills, and discuss the potential for place-based approaches to embedding oral language in the early years
• a compelling case for the importance of early education and childcare, and the need for increased investment in workforce training and better working conditions to raise the quality of early childhood education
• the support for children with special educational needs (SEN), and how better measures and frameworks are needed to assess the true impact of SEN provisions, including tailored support
• the impact of school exclusion on children’s outcomes and the need for policies that focus on inclusivity and collaboration across educational and social systems to reduce exclusion
• efforts to tackle child poverty and the importance of providing adequate support to larger families
• a powerful argument for rethinking the current educational approach to better support all students
• school-based early years leadership and the importance of leadership training specific to early childhood in ensuring high-quality provision.