This research and background section sets out the national policy context, evidence base and core principles underpinning Best Start Family Hubs, providing practitioners with a clear foundation for understanding how integrated, early‑intervention approaches can improve outcomes for children and families.
Policy Context: Why Family Hubs and Best Start in Life Matter
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme (Healthy Babies programme from April 2026) is jointly overseen by the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care. The programme aims to join up and enhance services for families with children of all ages, with Healthy Babies services (0–2) forming its core. This includes clear expectations for funded strands such as parenting support, early language/HLE, parentinfant relationship support, infant feeding support and parent/carer panels.
Guidance for 2025–26 explains that the programme continues to underpin the government’s wider Opportunity and Health missions, with a commitment to breaking the link between background and future success.
In June 2025, the Government commissioned the Local Government Association (LGA) to deliver the role of the National Centre for Family Hubs, including oversight of peer challenges and support for local authorities to transform their Family Hub models.
All local authorities are expected to establish Best Start Family Hubs by April 2026, supported by guidance on site identification, branding, prioritisation of disadvantaged families, and integration with neighbourhood health plans.
The Evidence Base: Early Intervention and Integrated Systems
Government guidance emphasises the strong evidence base that the 1,001 days from conception to age two form the foundation of lifelong development. Early relational and practical support during this period has lasting effects on mental, physical and cognitive development.
The Healthy Babies programme also invests in universal support—such as enhanced breastfeeding helplines and practitioner guidance—to strengthen early parentinfant relationships and promote responsive care.
System leaders highlight that effective Best Start strategies require:
- Codesign with families and local communities,
- A focus on reducing inequalities,
- Evidence informed practice,
- Integration with wider local systems (health, community and education).
These principles align closely with the direction of Family Hubs policy and the expectations placed upon local authorities by the LGAled NCFH.
Core Principles of Good Practice in Family Hubs
A Single Front Door to Support
Best Start Family Hub guidance stresses that hubs must provide a consistent, recognisable point of access, ensuring families can find the help they need without navigating multiple disconnected services. Hubs should colocate services wherever possible, offer universal and targeted support, and implement outreach strategies to engage communities.
A clear and shared definition of what a Family Hub offers is essential to avoid variability or fragmented provision. Newly issued guidance provides tighter expectations to support consistency.
Relationship Centred and FamilyLed Approaches
LGA guidance highlights that all families need support at times, and early identification works best where services are accessible and relationshipbased. Improving joinup between state and voluntary sector services and building a whole family approach ensures needs are met before issues escalate.
Family voice is also embedded through parent/carer panels and coproduction expectations.
Early Identification and Prevention
Early identification and prevention is at the heart of Family Hub design. The LGA states that universal services play a vital role in spotting emerging needs, while targeted help prevents problems worsening.
This is also echoed in government’s wider Best Start in Life strategy, which aims to improve GLD outcomes and reduce disparities through timely, joinedup early years support.
Integration with Health and Wider Systems
Best Start Family Hubs must align with:
- Neighbourhood health plans,
- SEND pathways,
- Local antenatal and postnatal support,
- Preventative public health programmes.
Guidance emphasises that hubs must act as a central component of integrated local systems, contributing to 10year health plan outcomes and shifting resources toward prevention.
Evidence Based Start for Life Services
Local areas must deliver evidencebased services across key Best Start in Life strands:
- Parenting programmes,
- Home Learning Environment support,
- Parent infant relationship and perinatal mental health support,
- Infant feeding support.
National Centre for Family Hubs (LGA Led) Peer Challenge Model
From 2025, the LGA leads the National Centre for Family Hubs, including delivery of Family Hub peer challenges.
Peer challenges support local authorities to:
- Strengthen join up between services,
- Improve relationship centred practice,
- Address organisational barriers,
- Ensure hubs meet national expectations.
This provides structured, sector led improvement to embed exemplary practice across all local areas.
Designing High Quality Best Start Family Hubs
Core Components
Guidance outlines two transformation stages—basic and developed models—with criteria local authorities must meet. Core components include:
- A Start for Life/Healthy Babies offer,
- Parenting and HLE support,
- Parentinfant relationship pathways,
- Infant feeding services,
- Parent/carer panels to embed family voice.
Access and Inclusion
Local authorities must select hub sites that prioritise disadvantaged communities and ensure hubs are accessible, visible and connected with wider community assets.
Governance and Planning
Hubs must integrate with:
- Local Best Start Plans,
- Neighbourhood health plans,
- Transformational early years and SEND strategies.
This approach supports coherence across the whole early help and early years system.
The Future Direction of Exemplary Practice
As Family Hubs become universal by 2026, future best practice will continue to focus on:
- Strengthened integration between health, education and SEND,
- Greater consistency through statutory expectations,
- Coproduction with parents and communities,
- Stronger data, evaluation and continuous learning cycles,
- Deepening the prevention focus across local systems.
This reflects a maturing sector, increasingly supported through the National Centre for Family Hubs.
Conclusion
Good practice in Family Hubs and Best Start in Life is built on integration, early intervention, relationship centred working and coproduction. With strengthened national guidance and the LGA now leading the National Centre for Family Hubs, local areas have a clearer framework than ever before to develop consistent, highquality and equitable support for families.