Grammar school expansion and scrapping free school meals for four- to seven-year-olds are just two of the manifesto pledges omitted from last week's Queen's Speech.
Prime Minister Theresa May's own goal in calling the election, combined with the recent series of tragic events, have changed the political and policy landscape. The Grenfell Tower disaster has, among other things, highlighted poor safety standards in social housing. Terrorist attacks in Manchester and London have drawn attention to police cuts and the shortage of youth workers to engage with disaffected young people.
Ending austerity in public sector spending will not guarantee against a repeat of such tragic events, but it will help ensure investment in much-needed public protection.
Over the next 18 months, the government and civil service will be consumed with Brexit negotiations - eight of the 27 bills in the Queen's Speech are related to unravelling the UK's membership of the European Union. The amount of time available for making and scrutinising domestic policy will be greatly reduced as a result. This could mean there is a period of inertia in policymaking at a time when the challenges facing children, young people and families - and the services that work with them - have never been greater.
Despite May's pledge in July 2016 to address the "burning injustices" in society, there was little in the Queen's Speech to deliver on that commitment. There were no bills to tackle child poverty, expected to rise to five million by 2020; the crisis in education funding, which is seeing schools increase class sizes, cut jobs and reduce opening hours; nor the ever-widening gap in economic wealth between the top 10 per cent and the rest.
In addition, children and families policies already on the statute book - such as the roll-out of 30 hours free childcare across England, and new systems for the regulation of social workers and local safeguarding arrangements - are at key stages of their development. These need ministers' and officials' utmost attention.
If the government is more receptive to loosening the public spending purse strings to address inequalities, children's charities, campaigners and sector leaders must grasp the opportunity to press the case for much-needed investment to improve the life chances for vulnerable children and families.
"Policies, such as the roll-out of free childcare and new systems for local safeguarding arrangements, are at key stages of development - and need utmost attention"
Derren Hayes is editor of Children & Young People Now derren.hayes@markallengroup.com
