Bedford has the worst toddler development in the East of England

A leading children's charity has warned under-resourced services such as family hubs have led to parents being unable to access crucial support.

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities figures show 47% of 129 children aged between two and two-and-a-half in Bedford reached the expected standard when they were assessed across five key development areas – up slightly from 46% the year before.

It meant the area had the lowest proportion of children developing properly in the East of England.

This was below 2019-20, the latest data before the coronavirus pandemic, when 50% of toddlers met the expected standard across all five areas.

Across England, the proportion of young children developing as expected remained below pre-pandemic levels, despite rising slightly from 79% to 80%. Before the pandemic, this figure had reached 83%.

Vicky Nevin, policy manager at the NSPCC, said even before the pandemic, too many children were "overlooked".

She added: "It's vital that parents can access trusted advice and support from professionals during this time. However, too often maternity, health visiting and family hubs services are under-resourced and hard to reach for families."

Ms Nevin urged the Government to address the shortages of 2,500 midwives and 5,000 health visitors.

She also highlighted concerning regional inequality, adding: "We need to ensure that children and families across the nation can access quality support – avoiding a postcode lottery.

"We hope to see ambitious commitments on this in the upcoming government spending review and the 10-year health plan."

The figures also showed regional inequality across the country, with children in Yorkshire and The Humber far outperforming their peers in London.

Some 86% of children in Yorkshire and The Humber met the expected standard across all five areas, but this dropped to just 75% for those in London.

In the East of England, 85% of toddlers met the expected standard.

Ealing, in the capital, had the worst development rate in England at just 23%, while Wokingham in the South East had the highest at 95%.