Delivering the Best Start in Life strategy: Planning and data for local context
Brief No. 12, 5 November 2025. Erin Dysart, Louise Tracey.
The Government’s Early Years strategy for England, ‘Giving every child the best start in life’, outlines local authority funding to ensure children are ready to start school at age five. The use of data to understand local needs and what works is essential to deliver targeted investments.
Here we set out guidance for local authorities to develop their data use, drawing on best practice.
Overview
- Local authorities need to develop plans to meet the new targets set by the Department for Education to raise the number of children reaching a good level of development by 2028, in line with the Government’s new strategy ‘Giving every child the best start in life’ (July 2025).
- We highlight key resources and best practice for local authorities to develop their contextual data.
- To select the best interventions for local need, local authorities need to engage critically with research.
- Local and national government need to collaborate to develop meaningful integrated data systems to place resources where they are most needed.
Recent figures show that 34% of five-year-olds in England are not at a good level of development across 12 of the 17 Early Learning Goals (Department for Education, 2024). Furthermore, the disadvantage gap of children aged five continues to widen (from 4.6 months difference in 2023 to 4.7 months in 2024 (Education Policy Institute, 2025)).
The Government’s new Early Years reform strategy aims to improve early childhood development and reduce this disadvantage gap by giving every child the best start in life through local authority funding to invest in Best Start Family Hubs and Early Childhood Education and Care (Department for Education, 2025). However, for local authorities to invest this funding strategically, they will need to identify their local needs and find suitable interventions.
Recommendations
For local authorities:
Local authorities in England should take the following steps to improve their data use and inform strategic investment under the government’s Best Start strategy:
- Take sufficient time to assess local needs and local learning on how to address those needs. We recommend using the ‘Thinking about your local population needs’ guide by the Foundations What Works Centre for Children and Families.
- Interrogate the research evidence so better decisions can be made when assessing local needs and selecting interventions to tackle those needs.
- Integrate evidence gathering and use at every step from initial scoping to evaluation of delivered investments, with consideration for how data gathering can be improved as part of this.
- Use different forms of evidence. While quantitative data is useful to assess a starting point and outcomes, professional knowledge and lived experiences are essential for development, monitoring and evaluation.
For the Department for Education:
- Allow local authorities sufficient time to gather data and make informed decisions to yield better long-term results and as such, the government needs to clarify what is expected by the April 2026 deadline.
- Support local authorities to build the technical infrastructure required to gather and integrate data and mandate reporting of key measures which will, in the longer-term, mean local authorities can make better decisions about where resources are needed.
About the authors
Erin Dysart is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leeds and leads the Research Centre for Evaluation of Educational Intervention and Practice (EEIP).
Email Erin Dysart: E.L.Dysart@leeds.ac.uk.
Louise Tracey is Professor of Early Years Education at the University of Leeds and leads the Centre for Early Years Education (CEYE).
Email Louise Tracey:L.C.Tracey@leeds.ac.uk.
Further information
The following guides are recommended:
- To assess local contextual needs: Foundations: Thinking about your local populations needs (pdf)
- To assess research evidence: Education Endowment Foundation: Using research evidence 2024
We would like to say a special thank you to the following people for support with this policy brief: local authority officer Dea Nielsen (a fairer start, NESTA), Anna Morgan and Kate Irvine (Bristol City Council).
To cite this policy brief, please reference: Dysart, E., Tracey, L. (2025) Delivering the Best Start in Life strategy: Planning and data for local context. Brief No. 12, Policy Leeds, University of Leeds. https://doi.org/10.48785/100/372