It’s good to look hard at the cost effectiveness of educational interventions, but the report by Policy Exchange is just plain wrong.

The Pounds 2,600-per-pupil costs estimated in a report commissioned by our charity from KPMG have been carefully worked out over five years and include everything that the think tank calls “admin” - actually, the costs to the local authority of providing the very high-quality professional development that makes the results of the programme so robust, year-on-year.

Put together with the long-term costs of not providing early intervention - up to Pounds 64,000 per child over their lifetime, and the 4 per cent uplift in whole-school standards at key stage 1, Reading Recovery seems a bargain.

Jean Gross, Director, Every Child a Chance Trust.