Findings from new reports indicate that child health and the education disadvantage gap are worsening.
According to the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health’s State of Child Health 2026 report, the UK has some of the worst outcomes for children in Europe because of declining vaccination rates and rising mental health disorders.
Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor MBE, Chair of the LGA’s Health and Wellbeing Committee, said: “Councils have embraced their public health responsibilities and continue to work hard to develop more integrated, place-based approaches to improving outcomes in early childhood and supporting families. But they do so under considerable financial pressure and challenging workforce shortages, with teams, such as health visitors, stretched ever thinner.”
Meanwhile, the Education Policy Institute’s annual report has warned that the Government faces an “uphill battle” to halve the academic disadvantage gap.
Its latest analysis of England’s education system revealed the post-pandemic gains in narrowing the disadvantage gap have stalled or are in reverse across all phases of education.
Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson CBE, Chair of the LGA’s Children, Young People and Families Committee, said: “These findings show that ambition and commitment to reducing inequality must be accompanied by proper and consistent investment if we are to close the disadvantage gap.”