This project provided resources, guidance and opportunities for connection to support local authorities with their strategic planning, leading to high-quality, deliverable plans that maximise the impact for children’s development and close inequality gaps.

The government’s Best Start in Life strategy sets out plans to achieve the opportunity mission milestone of 75% of five-year-olds reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment by 2028. The government asked every local authority in England to develop their plans to implement this strategy by March 2026. Plans included better support for families, more accessible early education and childcare, and improved quality in early years (including reception). 

Nesta supported local authorities in the development of these plans to help make them ambitious and credible, so that more children can benefit from high-quality support and reach a good level of development. The work is part of our mission to give every child the same chance of developing to their full potential in the early years.

We developed our support packages and adapted our approach as we gathered further feedback from local authorities, partner organisations and others working in the sector. We aimed to be highly collaborative, contributing to others’ efforts in this space and bringing the sector together around this challenge.

Our approach was designed to support local authorities through three stages of the strategy process: 

1. Diagnosis: We aimed to provide a data dashboard and interpretation guidance to help local authorities quickly establish their current state and identify specific groups that need focused support.
2. Strategic planning: We offered a framework and evidence insights (including the PASCAL decision-making assistant), to help local authorities to develop a plan that is data- and evidence-informed.
3. Monitoring: We provided guidance and templates for establishing interim measures and integrating 'test and learn' approaches to support continuous improvement during strategy delivery.