Nesta's contribution:

• A structured process for bringing partners together to co-design, trial and implement improvements, alongside project management capacity.
• Multidisciplinary team providing:
  • Additional capacity to facilitate a structured process.
  • Skills in a range of innovation methods – from data science and behavioural science, to service design and experimental evaluation.
• An innovation fund. To support the partnership's work Nesta is providing an ‘innovation fund’ which will be a contribution towards associated costs of developing and implementing ideas developed through the partnership, such as licenses to practice evidence-based interventions and evaluation.
• In the first year of the partnership, up to £200,000 is available for project expenditure, shared across a small number (one-three) of local partners. Further funding will be made available in subsequent years.

Local area's contribution:

• Buy-in and willingness to take part. Local areas should have a similar level of aspiration to redesign their early years services and support. To make this happen buy-in from senior leadership, and the ability to free up some capacity for ongoing project management will be essential (see FAQs for more on resource and time expectations).
• Convening a cross-sector collaboration. Local area partners should be able to convene a network (formal or informal) of partner agencies (including health, education, early years settings, VCS) who bring:
  • Knowledge of current service delivery – both strengths and challenges.
  • Practice expertise.
  • Relationships with local families.
  • Knowledge of your local context, and what is likely or unlikely to work.
• Leveraging some resources. We recognise that budgets are under unprecedented pressures, particularly in the shadow of COVID-19. To mitigate this, we aim to align the partnership’s aims and activities with a local area's existing priorities and strategy. However, once the formal partnership is in place, we expect areas to have a dedicated project manager for the work.

Aligned goals and outcomes

Mutually supportive and committed to the partnership over several years. Working for the public good, including agreement to the future scale-up of successful innovations developed through this partnership to new geographical areas.

• Return to the Early Years Innovation Partnership home
• What is an innovation partnership?
• How can my area take part? Key dates and more details
• Eligibility criteria
• FAQs
• Register for a webinar
• Terms and conditions
• Download the full applicant pack
• Submit an Expression of Interest