Following our work supporting local authorities to develop ambitious Best Start in Life local plans, Nesta is now working with local authorities to understand what support is most valuable as they move from planning into delivery, and to design practical, scalable ways of helping local systems improve outcomes for children in the early years.

Over the coming months, we will work collaboratively with local authorities and partners to test new approaches, refine support tools and strengthen the evidence base for what helps local systems deliver change effectively.

Local authorities are tasked with delivering a substantial step change in early-years outcomes to meet the government’s 75% good level of development target by 2028. Achieving this target requires not just ambitious, credible strategic plans at local authority level, but also effective delivery of these plans. Recent guidance published by the Department for Education has reinforced expectations for local authorities as they move into the delivery phase of their Best Start in Life plans, alongside the government’s Best Start in Life ambitions and focus on improving school readiness. Nesta will continue to work with local authorities as they begin implementation, learning more about local authorities’ priorities and how they can best be supported to translate local plans into meaningful action.

This project aims to support local authorities to move from strategy to action by developing practical, evidence-informed delivery support that helps local systems implement Best Start in Life plans effectively, improve early years outcomes and reduce inequalities.

Local authorities across England are now moving into the delivery phase of their Best Start in Life plans, shifting focus from strategic planning to implementation. While many areas have developed ambitious strategies, delivering meaningful change requires sustained support, practical tools and opportunities to test and refine approaches in practice.

Nesta’s previous work with local authorities demonstrated that there was demand for support in this space and highlighted the opportunity to build on our strategic planning offer by helping areas translate plans into action.

This next phase of work allows us to test and develop a longer-term system support offer for local authorities, helping us understand what types of support are most effective while strengthening the wider early years system.

We are currently developing and testing our implementation support offer and will continue adapting our approach as we gather feedback from local authorities, partner organisations and others working in the sector.

Our approach focuses on supporting local authorities through three areas of delivery:

• Implementation support: We will test practical delivery support with some local authorities to help them put Best Start in Life plans into action and strengthen delivery capability. This will include clinics, coaching and peer group mentoring.
• Tools and resources: We will work to develop and refine scalable products, tools and digital resources to help local authorities apply evidence, use data effectively and improve decision-making.
• Evidence and insight: We will continue building our understanding of local authority needs and effective practice to ensure our support responds to the challenges local systems face.

As part of this work, we aim to test scalable approaches that can support local authorities across England while refining more intensive support where additional need is identified.