A Better Start programme’s impact on the government’s new early years strategy
Sarah Creek, Early Years Programme Lead at NCB, reflects on how A Better Start’s learning and evidence has influenced the Best Start in Life strategy.
Over the past four years, I’ve had the privilege of being involved in the A Better Start (ABS) programme, sharing learning and evidence on what works to improve the lives of babies, young children, and their families. Find out more about what we’ve learned.
It’s been encouraging to see so many ABS principles reflected in the government’s Best Start in Life (BSiL) strategy. Here are a few key areas where ABS’s influence is clear.
Prioritising holistic early years support
BSiL recognises the critical developmental importance of the early years, with a focus on support from pregnancy to age five, and on prevention and early intervention.
ABS has championed early years development from the start, focusing on improving outcomes from pregnancy to age four. Its approach combined targeted support with a strong emphasis on prevention-building systems and services to improve children's lives.
Recognising health and education go hand in hand to improve child development outcomes, ABS adopted a holistic model that is now echoed in the BSiL strategy.
Local, community-led planning and parent voice
Coproduction has been central to all ABS partnerships, guiding their work from the ground up. Rooted in local communities, ABS has focused on understanding and responding to local needs, with parents playing a key role in shaping early years services – from delivery plans to decision-making at board level. It’s encouraging to see the BSiL Best Start Plans being co-produced by local authorities and communities, with parents actively involved in shaping how Best Start Family Hubs are delivered.
Joined up support services for families
One of ABS’ key strengths has been its focus on partnership working – bringing local services together to offer integrated, accessible support for families. From the outset, ABS recognised the importance of consistent, joined-up messaging and clear pathways, combining universal services with targeted support where needed.
By building trust and addressing barriers, ABS has helped families access the help they require. This approach is clearly reflected in the BSiL strategy, which emphasises the need for maternity and family support to be integrated, accessible and relationship centred. The idea behind Best Start Family Hubs is that they will join up services in the community and create spaces where every family feels valued and confident enough to ask for help.
Innovation for systemic change
ABS adopted a test-and-learn approach, enabling all five partnerships to pilot, refine, and scale programmes even amid tight public funding. This flexible model helped identify what truly works - and what doesn’t - for babies, young children, and their families. It’s encouraging to see the BSiL strategy build on this, placing ‘Test, Learn and Grow’ approaches at the heart of the government’s vision for systemic change.
Smarter use of data
ABS partnerships have tackled the challenges of data sharing, recognising that timely, accurate information is key to supporting children and families effectively. They’ve long advocated for more joined up data and information to link records and improve data accuracy. It’s promising to see the BSiL strategy commit to piloting this important step toward better data integration.
Workforce and leadership
ABS recognised that strong leadership and a skilled workforce are essential to delivering effective support for children and families. Each partnership invested in ambitious programmes to build staff capacity. Reflecting this, the BSiL strategy highlights the importance of workforce skills and leadership and commits to a dedicated study to inform long-term reform in family services.
It’s a promising start to see so much learning and evidence from ABS reflected in BSiL. As the government moves forward to implement its strategy, building on ABS learning will be essential to delivering real, lasting change for families.
About A Better Start
A Better Start is a ten-year project set up by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK.
Five A Better Start partnerships based in Blackpool, Bradford, Lambeth, Nottingham and Southend are supporting families to give their babies and very young children the best possible start in life. Working with local parents, the A Better Start partnerships are developing and testing ways to improve their children’s diet and nutrition, social and emotional development, and speech, language and communication.
The National Children’s Bureau is coordinating an ambitious programme of shared learning for A Better Start, disseminating the partnerships’ experiences in creating innovative services far and wide, so that others working in early childhood development or place-based systems change can benefit.
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