Childcare/education
Sure Start settings
Grants & funding
Inclusion
History of local programmes
The first Sure Start local programmes were set up in 1999; as the result of the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review. They worked by bringing together early education, childcare, health and family support for the benefit of young children living in disadvantaged areas and their parents.
Sure Start local programmes are an area-based initiative with the aim of improving the health and well-being of families and children from before birth to four, so children are ready to flourish when they go to school. Local programmes are concentrated in neighbourhoods where a high proportion of children are living in poverty.
Selection process
Districts were selected to develop Sure Start local programmes according to the levels of deprivation within their areas, but decisions about catchment areas were decided locally. Catchment areas cover wards in the 20% of the most deprived wards (as measured by the ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) Index of Multiple Deprivation).
Super Output Areas are now used to determine levels of deprivation. For more information on Super Output Areas visit the Children's Centre FAQ section.
Whilst services were designed to meet the needs of families under four within each catchment area and offered to those families first, many of the services developed are available to those living outside the catchment area. For example, many programmes choose to provide open access drop-in facilities for families with young children.
Sure Start local programmes were opened in waves, Round 1 indicates the first wave of programmes starting 1999. Round 6 represents the final wave of Sure Start local programmes mostly starting in 2003.
Publication
Download the origins of the Sure Start local programme
