Background: National Context

The government's stated aim is to eradicate child poverty within a generation. Sure Start is one of a number of social policy objectives that contribute towards this objective. Others include the Working Family Tax Credit, guaranteed nursery provision for all 3 & 4 year olds, Lifelong Learning and the New Deal for Lone Parents.

Underpinning Sure Start is the knowledge that a child's life chances are largely determined by the time they reach school at 5. Therefore, successful pro-active interventions need to be targeted at pre-school age and need to meet the needs of the whole family.

Sure Start was created by the Treasury and has been promoted, funded and managed by both the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Employment. It was one of the first government initiatives to be rolled out and the process began in February 1999 when the first expressions of interest from local authorities were sought. 60 trailblazer areas were selected and Telford & Wrekin was in this group. By 2004 there will be 500 Sure Start areas in the country with a total budget of £1.2 billion between 1999-2004.

Twenty-four national targets for Sure Start have been set around 4 objective areas:

• Objective 1: Improving social and emotional development.
• Objective 2: Improving Health.
• Objective 3: Improving children's ability to learn.
• Objective 4: Strengthening families and communities.

The targets can be adapted locally and include within them targeted areas for work such as reducing child protection re-referrals, providing access to early education, improving speech and language development, improving breastfeeding rates and increasing parents participation and self-esteem.

Local Context

Lawley Ward was selected as the Sure Start area following consultation with health, education, social care, councillors, the local community and other stakeholders. Although not within the Telford & Wrekin Anti-Poverty areas 52% of the ward population does live with enumeration districts with levels of deprivation higher than the average for the West Midlands. It also includes the permanent traveller's site at Ketley Brook. In addition the area is currently undergoing substantial development which has brought a substantial number of young families into the area. It is projected that the ward will have around 665 pre-school children by the end of 2002. The schools in the area are within the Telford Education Action Zone. A Sure Start Delivery Plan for Lawley Ward was submitted and approved in late 1999. The Project Leader came into post in January 2000, and the project has been in development and delivery modes since that time.

The area has historically lacked services for families such as a centrally located GP surgery and has dispersed schools. There has also been under-provision of nursery places and play facilities. Thankfully many of these deficits have now been addressed by Sure Start and partner agencies. In particular the Sure Start nursery opens in January, a 2nd Sure Start centre is planned for Newdale as part of the new school development, and a new GP surgery is in development at the Birchfield roundabout.

A needs assessment using focus groups of local practitioners and parents also revealed a number of issues around access to services and perceived indifferent service delivery. Many of these are being resolved by willing partnerships with Social Services, Health Visitors, Midwives and Education. Services are now being delivered in the community using the Sure Start House and the Carpenter Family Centre.

Action to Date

Some of the most significant achievements of Lawley Ward Sure Start to date are:
Providing home visiting and support on a wide range of issues to all families that request it.
Based at our Wrekin Housing Trust property this has been extremely successful: over 70 families visited thus far.
Building a local partnership board including Parents, Councillors, Education, Health and Social Services.
Working closely in partnership with Telford PCG, Health Visitors and Midwives to identify vulnerable families and models of working.
Providing access to high quality play and early learning through new playgrounds, play bus, trips, parties, play scheme and fun days. Involving parents in the process of identifying needs and managing the project through a 'Parents Advisory Group' and the Sure Start Board.
Maintaining a high profile and providing accessible and flexible service delivery. Construction and opening of the Carpenter Family Centre and nursery building at Overdale.
The Sure Start High/Scope nursery opens on 4th January 2000 with 24 local 3 and 4 year olds.
Working with families on the Ketley Brook Traveller's Site to encourage take up of nursery places and construction of the first play area of its kind in the U.K.

Conclusion

To date the Lawley Ward Sure Start has been successful on a number of fronts:

• Developing strategies to meet its targets
• Creating an information sharing and management structure that involves all local professional stakeholders, community groups and parents.
• Delivering services to date to over 100 children and 75 families in the Sure Start area, particularly to more vulnerable families.
• Working successfully in partnership with local agencies such as the Wrekin Housing Trust, Midwives, Health Visitors, the Primary Care Group, Social Care and Early Years Education, including developing new services and new approaches to service delivery.