We worked to bring together the expertise of the early years sector and of families who need these services to design a family support system that produces better outcomes for young children.

Evidence shows children growing up in poverty are less likely to live a long, fulfilling and happy life than their peers. It’s not right that some people have poorer life chances because of their family circumstances.

Evidence also shows that place-based services that offer families a single point of access to different types of support are an effective and cost-efficient way of ensuring the healthy development of babies and young children, breaking the link between family background and life chances.

Since 2010, the funding supporting these initiatives has been dramatically eroded. Starting in autumn 2024, Nesta, in partnership with the Ethos Foundation, brought together a coalition of partners across the early years to propose a high-level blueprint for how the new family hubs programme can most effectively deliver support for all children and families in desperate need of it.

Encouragingly the components of our blueprint, that enjoys high levels of support from experts, are also highly consistent with the government's Giving every child the best start in life strategy, published in July 2025. The high-level blueprint outlined can be read as an extra layer of detail on how to deliver the government’s ‘Best Start’ vision by drawing on evidence from science, experience and context.

The project took a deliberative and collaborative approach to creating a high-level blueprint for delivering integrated early-years support systems. To do this, the project was organised into the following three main workstreams.

Evidence gathering stage

This stage aimed to gather evidence from a range of stakeholders on the essential preconditions of good integrated early-years delivery. This stage included:

• an open call for evidence - we invited submissions from stakeholders on the essential preconditions of good integrated early-years delivery
• a rapid literature review - we synthesised findings from existing UK policy documents, evaluations and research into integrated early-years delivery
• interviews and focus groups - we held 1:1 interviews with key experts and conducted focus groups with practitioners
• family voices - finally we gathered insights from families, ensuring we capture the experiences of those who have, and have not, accessed integrated family support services.

Deliberation and consensus-building stage

This stage involved:

• a Delphi-inspired survey - a two-stage process in which sector experts were first surveyed to establish the range of opinion on several key parameters of integrated early-years delivery
• hosting lived experience and expert workshops based on the initial findings, using a structured process to explore areas of agreement and disagreement, with the aim of reaching a consensus. Both the caregivers engaged in Phase 1, and the experts engaged in the Delphi process, had this opportunity to co-create a policy vision

Synthesis and dissemination stage

Based on this research, we published a high-level blueprint for transforming family support in England, drawing together insights from:

• families with young children (experts by experience)
• practitioners (experts by profession)
• written evidence (including published literature)

Nesta, Ethos Foundation and sector partners have set out a high-level blueprint which is consistent with the government's vision for the expansion of Best Start Family Hubs. The early years core offer would be delivered via a joined-up system of early years services through physical one-stop-shops, supported by a complementary digital service. While elements of the offer – joined-up health visiting, and midwifery services, for example – would be fixed and centrally mandated, others should be flexible so that local authorities can deliver in a way that makes the best of their existing assets and context.

In July 2025, the UK government committed to reviving family services across England through the expansion of the family hubs programme to every local authority. This is a welcome signal of a new era of commitment to integrated family support and improving the development outcomes of babies and young children. As the strategy is translated into delivery, what’s now crucial is that the evidence on what it takes to give every child the best possible start in life is put into practice.

In autumn 2025 we will publish a more detailed report that sets out how the government might implement the key components set out in the blueprint and what we think it would cost.

This work has benefited greatly from the generosity, wisdom and support of many collaborators across the sector. The high-level blueprint is endorsed by Ethos Foundation, Thrive at Five, Dartington Service Design Lab, National Children’s Bureau, NSPCC, UNICEF, Common Outcomes for Children and Young People Collaborative, Centre for Young Lives, Collective Futures, Making Evidence Work for Children and Families, and New Philanthropy Capital.