Agenda item

The Health and Wellbeing Board is RECOMMENDED to: 

1.    NOTE the progress of the delivery of priorities 1 and 2 under the thematic domain of Start Well within the Health and Wellbeing Strategy along with key challenges.  

2.    NOTE the Best Start in Life plan, attached as an appendix to this report, and: 

1. DELEGATE responsibility for regular monitoring of progress on outcomes relevant to the Best Start in Life Plan to the Children’s Trust Board;  

2. NOTE that those outcomes will include the inequality of Good Level of Development (GLD) outcomes for children eligible for free school meals; and 

3. NOTE that the Children’s Trust Board will report to the Health and Wellbeing Board on this matter as part of these annual Start Well updates and as required for escalation.  

Lisa Lyons (Director of Children’s Services, Oxfordshire County Council) and Annette Perrington (Deputy Director of Education and Inclusion) presented the Start Well Update report.

The item was introduced by Councillor Sean Gaul (Chair of the Children’s Trust Board), who emphasised that this was a significant and ambitious programme of work focused on improving early years outcomes and reducing inequalities in child development across Oxfordshire.

Councillor Gaul reflected on the persistent inequality in outcomes for young children, noting that children eligible for free school meals were currently achieving a ‘good level of development’ at a significantly lower rate than the wider population. He explained that previous national targets would have improved outcomes overall but would not have sufficiently narrowed this gap. As a result, local partners had set a more ambitious target to reduce the inequality gap from approximately 30% to 20%. He described this as a major system commitment which, if achieved, would have a substantial positive impact on children’s life chances.

Cllr Gaul explained that a detailed and robust delivery plan was being developed, bringing together system partners through the Children’s Trust Board. He proposed that the Board delegate responsibility for overseeing delivery and monitoring progress to the Children’s Trust Board, which would act as a coordinating body to ensure that all partners had the necessary support to contribute to achieving the target. He stressed that this work represented a transformative opportunity for Oxfordshire and required sustained commitment across organisations.

Lisa Lyons (Director for Children’s Services, Oxfordshire County Council) provided an overview of the report. She explained that the Start Well work encompassed a wide range of programmes and reforms, including the Family First reforms, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms, anti-poverty strategies, and changes to national education policy. She highlighted that the plan also incorporated the Best Start in Life programme, Family Hub and Youth Hub rollouts, and work on emotional health and wellbeing.

The Deputy Director for Education and Inclusion noted that there was now a stronger alignment of national and local focus on early years than had previously been the case, and that Oxfordshire’s status as a Marmot Place had supported a deeper understanding of the drivers of inequality in early childhood development.

The Executive Director of Healthwatch Oxfordshire asked how the Family Hubs model would ensure accessibility for families in rural areas. She highlighted concerns regarding geographic barriers and the ability of rural residents to access centralised services. In response, the Deputy Director for Education and Inclusion explained that the model would include a combination of district hubs, satellite provision, and pop-up services delivered within local communities. She outlined that existing community assets, including voluntary, community and faith sector organisations, would be utilised to extend reach into rural areas.

Discussions ensued regarding the measurement of impact for specific initiatives within the plan, including programmes such as the LIFT initiative (supporting low-income families) and oral health interventions such as supervised tooth brushing. The question was raised as to how the system would ensure that these interventions resulted in measurable improvements rather than simply identifying need.

Lisa Lyons responded by explaining that a combination of short-term and longer-term metrics would be used. For example, uptake and participation in programmes could be tracked immediately, while longer-term outcomes, such as improvements in oral health or reductions in inequality, would require longitudinal measurement.

The Deputy Director for Education and Inclusion added that the programme would aim to replicate the universal elements of earlier initiatives such as Sure Start, where services had been made widely available to all families, thereby raising the baseline level of wellbeing across the population.

The Board RESOLVED to:

1. NOTE the progress of the delivery of priorities 1 and 2 under the thematic domain of Start Well within the Health and Wellbeing Strategy along with key challenges.  

2. NOTE the Best Start in Life plan, attached as an appendix to this report, and: 

1. DELEGATE responsibility for regular monitoring of progress on outcomes relevant to the Best Start in Life Plan to the Children’s Trust Board;  

2. NOTE that those outcomes will include the inequality of Good Level of Development (GLD) outcomes for children eligible for free school meals; and 

3. NOTE that the Children’s Trust Board will report to the Health and Wellbeing Board on this matter as part of these annual Start Well updates and as required for escalation.