Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Director of Childrens Services and Education.

The Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Board (2) received a briefing note and presentation of the Director of Children’s Services and Education that provided an update on the implementation of the Best Start in Life (BSiL) Strategy and Local Area Plan (2026–2029), set out Coventry’s statutory Good Level of Development (GLD) targets and the approach to delivery through Best Start Family Hubs and partners, and confirmed the proposed approach to governance, workforce, and monitoring.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People attended the meeting for this item of business.

The briefing note and presentation highlighted:

·  Coventry’s early years position, statutory GLD targets, and delivery through Best Start Family Hubs

·  The national requirement: a Best Start in Life Strategy and Local Area Action Plan in operation by April 2026 and Coventry’s response

·  Coventry: Good Level of Development (GLD) - current position and trend (Reception 2024/25), and the position by the end of academic year 2027/28

·  Current Coventry delivery system working in collaboration to support children in early years and have the best start in life, and to achieve a good level of development 

·  Best Start in Life: National Strategy - HM Government Best Start in Life Strategy 2026–2029

·  Bold Start, Bright Futures (2026–2029) - Plan to Improve Child Development and Health Outcomes from pre-Birth to 5 

·  Best Start Family Hub and Healthy Babies Investment, Workforce and Branding

·  Next Steps - completion of the Best Start in Life Strategy and Local area Action plan by mid-late April and publication; establishment of the multiagency governance for this ambitious programme of work and performance dashboard; refocus of the interventions and service offer to children in most need (boys, children learning EAL, FSM, SEND) and geographical wards to narrow the gap; close monitoring of the impact of the local area action plan to ensure outcomes are being delivered and targets are likely to be met

In considering the briefing note and the presentation by officers, the Board discussed issues, asked questions and received responses from officers and the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills on matters including:

·  The Government required the production of the Strategy, which aligned with our Marmot City priorities, by July 2026

·  The Authority worked with a range of partners, Education and Children’s Services, Family Hubs, SEND services, schools, and early years providers, and there was already a work stream that was multi-agency supported and an operational stakeholder group in operation

·  A new governance process would be established for the Strategy – Best Start in Life Partnership Programme Board and also a Multi-Agency Operational Stakeholder Group, who would establish its own Service Level Action Plans

·  The Outcomes Framework would be shared across the partnership

·  The targets were challenging but achievable through partnership working and commitment

·  The drivers for the Strategy needed to remain the same

·  Changing culture could be challenging and there were known and unknown challenges

·  There was a need to access information about the groups of children not yet seen and targeting these children may require slightly changing course dependant on their needs

·  It was anticipated that there would be a timeframe of 10 years for the results of the work to be realised

·  A further 6 years of investment, in addition to the first 3 years funding, would be required to realise a difference

·  Data analysis through the HDRD had identified disadvantage and poverty as the key factor for families – need to look into the reasons behind the issues experienced by these families and work flexibly to target work.

·  There was a recognised developmental delay in some children from a very early age – improvement in the early years stage would benefit children and families, particularly for when children started school

·  There had been a particular focus on 3–4-year-olds, however it was recognised that the dip in development in 2024 was possibly as a result of Covid born children not being able to access services and suggested that more investment for 0-2yrs was required

·  There was a good pathway with parental engagement which helped to shape the offer/services - families were committed and wanted the best for their children, they were telling the Local Authority what they needed and engaging with the offer

·  The Council was highly regarded by the DFE for the work it had undertaken

·  Milestones in children’s achievements/good levels of development had been modelled, and data analysis had improved

·  From 1st April 2026 Local and National Branding that would be used for the Best Start Family Hubs (these will retain their own colours), and the Healthy Babies Programme. The changes would be gradually introduced but would follow a plan for completion as soon as was practicable

·  The Family Hub offer was available to children of all ages and their families

·  Community and digital offers were big objectives

·  The Council had provided its support for the continuation of the development and provision of the services for the future

The Board thanked offices for their presentation and their continued commitment to the work and requested that Annual Reports on Progress be submitted to the Board.

RESOLVED that the Children’s Services and Education Scrutiny Board (2):

1)  Notes the progress to date on the Best Start in Life Strategy and Local Area Plan.

2)  Endorses the delivery approach and the proposed governance and monitoring arrangements.

3)  Supports the continued integrated work with a range of partners, Education and Children’s services, Family Hubs, SEND services, schools, and early years providers to accelerate improvement in GLD, especially for disadvantaged children.

4)    Annual Reports on Progress be submitted to the Board, including take up from different groups of children.