The UK government has launched a new project to explore how better data-sharing can help ensure kids are school ready, which will see local authorities and healthcare professionals gauging parents’ views and experiences of accessing early learning support.

Nearly a third of children (32%) are starting school without the basic skills they need, which rises to almost half of children eligible for free school meals (48%). This has a direct impact on their educational outcomes.

Currently, services can operate in isolation with paper-based processes, meaning support is less well-coordinated and too often doesn’t arrive in time, if at all.

Sometimes, children’s needs are being missed because the services around them can’t see the full picture.

“Too many children are arriving at school without the skills they need, and too many parents have had to fight through a complex, disconnected system to get their child the support they deserve. That burden falls hardest on disadvantaged children,” technology secretary Liz Kendall said.

“We are determined to change old fashioned public services where assessments are recorded by paper and children’s needs are missed.

“Parents, carers and children deserve better and our hard-working early years and healthcare professionals deserve the tools they need to do their jobs – not blockers. The more connected we make our services, the greater the difference we can make for children and families.”

As the project develops, the data gathered from local authorities, education practitioners and health visitors on early years could help inform the development of a new collection on the National Data Library (NDL), following best practice and with appropriate safeguards on data sharing. Right now, only non-personal, aggregated data such as information on traffic levels is available on the NDL.

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“As parents across the country prepare to send their little ones off to school for the first time in September, I know it can still sometimes feel far too hard to get help with things like speech and language or potty training,” education secretry, Bridget Phillipson, said.

“That’s why I’m so proud of what we’ve already achieved through Best Start Family Hubs – with hundreds already launched, we’re well on our way to reaching every community with more SEND support and free stay and play sessions that can save families up to £200 a year.

“This work will build on those foundations, ripping up red tape so every child gets the best start in life.