The challenges and opportunities

The commitment and motivation for this work across the testing sites and the wider Community of Practice has remained high, despite the challenges, and there is a growing interest in the work beyond London, including via the LGA NCFH Regional Advisers and Communities of Practice.  There is strong appetite (and excitement) to shift to a genuine focus on outcomes (rather than the usual inputs, processes and outputs) and to use this as the starting point and basis for wider transformation and reform.

The work has highlighted that existing processes and systems are not yet in place to:

·       Capture outcomes – we still mostly record and report inputs, outputs and processes

·       Generate a qualitative, holistic view of the reality of what matters for individuals, families, communities - how they are and feel - for example, levels of confidence and engagement and feelings of belonging and aspiration that underpin the outcomes that can be achieved

·       Bring together data at different levels (individual, family hubs, locality and area) from all partners to generate a holistic, systemic view

·       Identify and represent the impact of integrated action and relational practice

·       Capture and recognise (and attribute) contributions to outcomes within diverse and complex local systems

The significant challenges and gaps identified through this work sit alongside real opportunities to model the transformational change needed to deliver the Government’s Plan for Change and mission-driven policy, including Best Start in Life and Families First Programme, outlined in the table in here. 

Until August 2025, a Steering Group including Department for Education policy leads met monthly to discuss findings at each stage, giving us the opportunity to feed into ongoing development and implementation of policy.