This article on theguardian website describes another study that reminds us of what we were discussing in our meeting last week. It is often those aspects of a persons' life that take place far beyond the reach of the state that are key influences on their future life chances. The complexity of this skein of influences is clear, yet it is possible to learn from key themes that emerge.

We are focusing on gaining an understanding of non-institutional (by which we mean not large charities or government) support for these groups, how that differs from the support offered by the state, and in particular understanding what it is about these forms of support that make them successful. However, while we do this, as we discussed, we cannot ignore these deep historical factors, even though the point of what we are doing is make sure that the past is not the key to the future, but that what we do in the present is.

And that works nicely back to the speech we've just finished listening to by the shadow education secretary.

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