NSPCC Scotland is urging politicians in all parties to help prevent harm to children and prioritise early support for families in future plans and investment decisions, as the charity publishes an overview of early years policies since devolution.
The report calls for a strategic, long‑term commitment to the early years to ensure every child in Scotland has the best possible start in life.
Published on the NSPCC Learning website it provides a descriptive summary of early years policymaking in Scotland over the past 25 years.
The NSPCC believes there are clear opportunities for improvement in current early years policy and is calling on the next Scottish Government to prioritise it. This is one of the charity’s five priority areas for child protection that it will be setting out next month in the run up to the Scottish Parliament elections.
Early years – the period from pregnancy until a child turns five – is widely recognised as a critical stage in child development during which the foundations of learning, behaviour and lifelong mental and physical health are established.
In 2024, nearly half (45%) of the children on the child protection register in Scotland were under the age of four. This consisted of 93 unborn children and 913 aged newborn to four years old.1
Despite the youngest children in Scotland being the most vulnerable to harm, the 0-3 age group in particular can often be overlooked. It’s been called the ‘baby blindspot’.
Babies and very young children rely on sensitive and responsive care to grow and thrive. Evidence shows that investing in children’s earliest years not only reduces the need for costly interventions later in life but also helps tackle inequalities and ensures every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
In this report, the NSPCC sets out how the Scottish Government’s strongest focus on the early years can be traced back to 2011–12, with multi-agency initiatives that were designed to improve outcomes for children, reduce inequalities for those who were particularly vulnerable, and shift services toward prevention and early intervention.
However, the charity’s analysis reveals that strategic focus on the early years has not been maintained as attention shifted toward tackling the poverty-related attainment gap and addressing the long-term effects of childhood adversity in adulthood.
This has meant that targeted support for families and children, from pre-birth to age five, to prevent problems from developing or getting worse, has inadvertently declined.
The NSPCC’s view is that these days early years policy is too often viewed by the Government as meaning early learning and childcare provision, rather than as a broader agenda, which focuses on supporting families to build nurturing, responsive caregiving relationships.
Rachel Love, NSPCC Scotland Senior Policy Officer and report author, said: “Investing in early childhood provides significant long-term benefits for children, their families, and communities, including improved educational attainment, reduced health inequlaities and economic returns.
“Our analysis shows that prioritisation of early years has been inconsistent, leading to gaps in service planning and delivery; and when it has been a priority, funding and resourcing has not matched ambitions.
“As we approach the Scottish Parliament elections, all political parties have an important opportunity – and responsibility – to place the early years at the heart of future policy and public investment in Scotland.
“The NSPCC wants the new Government to give families the support they need, so every child gets the best possible start – ensuring Scotland keeps The Promise to its youngest children.”
The charity wants the new Government to:
- Reestablish early years as a cross-party priority, with a clear focus on parent–infant relationships and holistic family support that prioritises prevention and early help.
- Create a dedicated Early Years Strategy, led by a Minister for Early Years, to ensure focused and sustained national leadership.
- Strengthen statutory guidance on Children’s Services Planning to reinforce its emphasis on early years prevention and intervention, and introducing long-term, ringfenced funding so local areas can deliver high-quality family and parenting support.
- Advance implementation of The Promise and Children’s Rights, making sure the needs and rights of babies and under-fives are central to decisions about policy, legislation and practice.
For the full report visit:
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/2026/over-25-years-of-early-years
