About Nesta

Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society.

More about us

What can we learn from Sure Start?

How to make good things happen: global lessons for UK policymakers

In A fairer start

23 Jul 2024 18:00 – 20:00

Online

Free

This event took place on Tuesday 23 July. You can watch the recording below.

The new education secretary has earmarked early years as her 'number one priority'. This event looked at successful past policies in the sector and what UK policymakers can learn from them.

Established in the 1990s, Sure Start introduced a network of family community centres throughout England, enabling a more cohesive approach to early years support services. The programme was rolled out over ten years and led to the creation of approximately 3,500 children’s centres, with a large number serving disadvantaged communities. Sure Start was found to have significant benefits on children’s health and educational attainment through childhood and adolescence, particularly among children living in disadvantage. However, funding for Sure Start has shrunk by 75% since 2019 and only 75 local authorities still have Family Hubs left, demonstrating the need for renewed focus and investment.

We heard about why this initiative was a success, its impact on children and families, and the learnings that policymakers can take forward.

Nesta’s fairer start mission Deputy Director Louise Bazalgette chaired a panel of speakers with deep expertise on early years policy and the Sure Start initiative. We heard from Nesta’s fairer start mission Director Sarah Cattan, the Nuffield Foundation’s Carey Oppenheim and Naomi Eisenstadt who was the first Director of the Sure Start unit.

Why you should watch the recording

This recording is for policymakers, child development experts and anyone interested in early childhood education and social policy.

Find out more about the series

Event recording

The opinions expressed in this event recording are those of the speakers. For more information, view our full statement on external contributors.

Louise Bazalgette

She/Her

Louise works as part of a multi-disciplinary innovation team focused on narrowing the outcome gap for disadvantaged children. Previously Louise was Principal Research Advisor for Nesta’s Alliance for Useful Evidence. As part of this role, Louise was evidence lead in the development team for What Works for Children's Social Care, while it was incubated at Nesta. As part of this work, Louise developed the Centre’s Evidence Store. Louise has a background in promoting the use of evidence in policy and practice, having previously worked at the think tank Demos (2010 - 2013) and the NSPCC (2013 - 2018). At Demos Louise researched policy areas including parenting, the early years and children's social care. At the NSPCC, Louise led work on a system redesign project with local authorities to improve mental health outcomes for looked after children. She also led the development and evaluation of new services for children involved with children’s social care. This included working with children’s practitioners to develop a practice toolkit for direct work with children. Louise is passionate about the roles that research and evidence can play in improving people's lives. She is a trained researcher in both qualitative and quantitative methods, specialising in qualitative research with vulnerable groups. She completed an MSc in Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London in 2018.

Sarah Cattan

She/Her

Sarah is an economist with over a decade of experience conducting policy-relevant research on early childhood development and policy. Before joining Nesta, Sarah worked at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) for 11 years, where she led their work on education and skills. Sarah has conducted influential work on key national early years policies in the UK, including Sure Start, the free entitlement to childcare and the Family Nurse Partnership. She has also worked closely with a number of local authorities and children's charities to adapt and experimentally evaluate interventions aimed at improving the outcomes of disadvantaged children and young people. During Covid-19, Sarah also led a major study looking at the impact of the pandemic on children's learning and wellbeing. Sarah has written widely about inequalities in children's outcomes and published research in top scientific journals. While at the IFS, Sarah also worked as a teaching fellow at University College London. She has a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

Naomi Eisenstadt

She/Her

Naomi Eisenstadt is chair of the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board. After a long career in the NGO sector, in 1999 Naomi became Director of Sure Start. The Unit was responsible for delivering the Government’s commitment to free nursery education places, the national childcare strategy, and Sure Start, a programme aiming to reduce the gap in outcomes between children living in disadvantaged areas and the wider child population. Naomi then spent 3 years heading the Social Exclusion Task Force. Since leaving the Civil Service, Naomi has served as an Adviser on poverty for the First Minister of Scotland and published 2 books. Naomi is a trustee of the Financial Fairness Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Open University in 2002 and in 2005 became a Companion of the Bath.

Carey Oppenheim

She/Her

Carey Oppenheim joined the Nuffield Foundation in May 2019 to lead The Changing Face of Early Childhood. She is now leading a programme of work on Grown Up? Transitions to Adulthood. Her career has encompassed research, policy, politics and practice – all with a focus on improving the lives of disadvantaged children. She was the first Chief Executive of the Early Intervention Foundation, a What Works Evidence Centre, now known as Foundations. Earlier roles include being Co-director of the Institute of Public Policy Research and Special Advisor to the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair MP, in the Number 10 Policy Unit between 2000 and 2005. Carey has also been a senior lecturer in social policy, acting deputy director at the Child Poverty Action Group, and has taught history and politics at an inner-city London school. She is a member of the Poverty Strategy Commission, formed to develop a consensus around a strategy for tackling poverty in the UK. She is an Advisory Group member to the Royal Foundation’s Centre for Early Childhood. She has written Parents, Poverty and the State (Policy Press) with Naomi Eisenstadt.

Part of

UK 2040: Options

What can we learn from Sure Start?

About Nesta

What can we learn from Sure Start?