The innovation foundation Nesta is offering free support to assist local authorities to develop their Best Start in Life national plans
Local authorities are tasked with delivering a substantial step change in early years outcomes – an increase in the proportion of children reaching a good level of development from 67.7 per cent to 75 per cent nationally by 2028. Achieving this target requires ambitious, credible strategic plans and, to help deliver these plans, local authorities are being given funding to commission evidence-based programmes that support parenting and the home learning environment.
Research from Nesta has identified more than 135 early years parenting programmes. These vary a lot in the outcomes they are seeking to achieve, how widely they are implemented and their evidence of impact on child development, making it difficult for local authorities to determine which programmes are evidence-based and best suited to their local needs.
To address this, Nesta has designed a new, free-to-use Parenting Support Commissioning Assistant for Local Areas (PASCAL) to provide data-driven insights tailored to the demographics of each local authority area, as well as to their specific needs, budget and preferences. It uses local authority data from the National Pupil Database to select from more than 20 programmes and recommend the most suitable ones that offer the best value for money for different segments of a given population.
The online assistant is aimed at predicting which programmes are likely to deliver maximum value for money and achieve the greatest potential impact on the number of children reaching a good level of development.
Alongside the launch of PASCAL, Nesta has developed resources to save local authorities time and help them with the foundational work involved in developing their plans. Nesta is also offering expert one-to-one advice, and opportunities for connection with other local authorities.
Louise Bazalgette, deputy director of Fairer Start at Nesta, said: “The next few months are critical for local authorities as they rise to the challenge of creating ambitious new strategic plans. The evidence is clear that parenting programmes can make a world of difference to helping children get the right start. But the complexity of the market means it’s a real challenge for local authorities to identify which programmes are the best fit for families in their area.
“As our first step in supporting local authorities, we’ve developed a decision-making assistant to simplify this by offering data-driven insights, helping commissioners identify programmes that are likely to deliver the maximum impact on the number of children reaching a Good Level of Development. Nesta will continue to work collaboratively with local areas to put to good use our expertise in early years innovation, data science, behavioural science and design.”
Get in touch with Nesta to take advantage of this opportunity to improve your strategic planning and save time, or find out more online at https://products.nesta.org.uk/bsil.
- This free support includes a new decision-making online assistant called PASCAL to help early years commissioners identify parenting programmes that are most likely to meet local needs. It also includes a step-by-step playbook and data profiles, personalised online coaching with expert advisers, and regional events. Local authorities can get in contact with Nesta at bsil-support@nesta.org.uk to access the resources.