From Sure Start to Children's Centres: An Analysis of Policy Change in English Early Years Programmes

Abstract

Sure Start was set up in 1998 as a flagship policy of the first New Labour government, with the promise of ten years funding. However, in 2003 it was superseded by plans for the establishment of Children's Centres, a universal programme rather than one for disadvantaged areas as in the case of Sure Start local programmes. The government claimed that the shift to Children's Centres represented continuity, but, using historical methods and key informant interviews, this paper shows that there was considerable change, particularly in the programme content and governance of the new centres. The paper explores the reasons for the policy shift in terms of factors arising from changes in government's goals for Sure Start and for children's services more broadly on the one hand, and from evidence of programme failure on the other. It concludes by reflecting on why the shift to Children's Centres was claimed as continuity rather than change, and what this tells us about the nature of policy change.

England’s <i>Sure Start</i> Pre-School Child Care Centres: Public Policy, Progress and Political Change

“…The second major contract for the evaluation of Sure Start, now relabelled for political reasons as Children's Centres (Lewis, 2011) was awarded to a group at the University of Oxford. In the event, this group carried out a methodologically careful quantitative approach, reflecting the rigours of research in educational and clinical psychology.…”

Social Innovations in the Urban Context

“…In addition, the district is a pioneer within Berlin because it pursues integrated concepts such as family centres conceptualized according to the "early excellence approach" and involving parents closely (see e.g. Lewis 2011). However, there is a lack of supply with regard to crèches, kindergartens and family centres equally.…”

The role of ‘embeddedness’ in the delivery of integrated children's services

“…Whilst Children's Centre services could vary according to local need, the tenet of the 'core offer' was supposed to be met in all Centres; although the shift from SSLP to universal Children's Centres heralded a shift away from a discourse of support for children and families toward a focus on early education and early intervention (Lewis, 2011;Lewis, Cuthbert, & Sarre, 2011). Provision in Centres is diverse and influenced by a number of factors including the previous history of the organisation and the cultural expectations and local needs, as well as the staff expertise within Centres and their understandings of 'quality' (Cottle, 2011;Lewis, 2011;Lewis, Cuthbert, et al, 2011;Lewis, Finnegan, & West, 2011).…”

“…Provision in Centres is diverse and influenced by a number of factors including the previous history of the organisation and the cultural expectations and local needs, as well as the staff expertise within Centres and their understandings of 'quality' (Cottle, 2011;Lewis, 2011;Lewis, Cuthbert, et al, 2011;Lewis, Finnegan, & West, 2011). Lewis et al (2011a) report that a lack of consistency in expectations for outreach work, staff qualifications and expertise and thresholds for the involvement of other specialist services have further added to the diverse nature of Centre's activities.…”