He was grammar-school and Oxbridge educated and is a vocal campaigner for faith schools). As well as serving on the Education Select Committee, Hinds also chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility, which published a report, ‘7 Key Truths About Social Mobility’. The report identified the early years as one of three important areas for influencing social mobility and called for policy-makers to prioritise: earlier identification; strategies to target the hardest-to-reach children; parenting programmes; and early years staff development.
If Hinds delivers on the priorities he set out while on the backbenches, this could be good news for the early years sector and for social mobility. But the sacking of Justine Greening was a clear signal from Number 10 that they want someone to deliver on their flagship manifesto policies – including expanding grammar schools, lifting the faith schools cap and reviewing schools admissions. If Hinds wants to pursue early years reform with vigour, he may face resistance from the top.
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