The UK Parliament is separate from the . The role of parliament is, ‘to look closely at the Government’s plans and to monitor the way they are running things’.
As part of their work, the UK Parliament publishes numerous up-to-date resources useful for understanding the current state of the country in terms of children’s and families’ experiences in the early years, and policy and research in this area.
The House of Commons Library
The library describes itself as providing, ‘impartial research and information’ on ‘legislation, policy areas and topical issues’.
Research briefings can be browsed by topic, and searched by subject and date. Recent early years research briefings include:
- ‘Early years funding in England’
- ‘Giving every child the best start in life’
- ‘Childcare workforce in England’
Briefings and data are produced to inform major parliamentary debates as they happen. Records of debates themselves can be found on Hansard (again, this can be searched for early years content by keyword and date).
The House of Lords Library
The library describes itself as providing, ‘research and information to Members of the House of Lords in support of their parliamentary work,’ including, ‘impartial research briefings by topic’. It also documents reviews, debates and scrutiny by the House of Lords.
Recent publications relevant to early years include:
- ‘Improved Early Years Interventions’
- ‘Ready to learn: Increasing the number of five-year-olds with a good level of development’
- ‘Independent review of children’s social care’
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST)
POST describes itself as, ‘an impartial research and knowledge exchange service based in the UK Parliament,’ covering ‘emerging or complex science and social science topics’.
Recent publications relevant to early years include:
- ‘Early Childhood Education and Care’
- ‘Maternal, newborn and infant health: priorities for improved outcomes’
Parliamentary select committees
Select committees are cross-party groups set up to scrutinise pressing topics and policy remits. Their inquiries are accompanied by public calls for evidence which result in a plethora of information being submitted by researchers, practitioners, charities, parents, and others with lived experience of the given topic.
Submissions are published, and oral evidence sessions are streamed, with transcriptions of the session also available online. Final reports summarising evidence, discussions, and issues raised are also published – alongside any government response.
For example, the current inquiry into, ‘Early Years: Improving Support for Children and Families’ has already resulted in the publication of:
Written evidence often contains a multitude of detailed information on practice and lived experience, summaries of research, and references to other research, so it is a mine of resources.
The National Audit Office (NAO)
The NAO is ‘independent of government and the civil service,’ and focusses on ‘scrutinising the implementation of government policy’. It conducts research and audits.
Reports relevant to the early years include:
Education Policy Institute (2026). Early Years Explainer: What information does the UK Parliament publish on early years? [URL] (accessed Day Month Year).