Wirral’s Best Start in Life Plan builds on a strong foundation of work delivered through the borough’s Early Years Strategy from 2022-2026, a period marked by strengthened partnership working, improved alignment of services, and a shared ambition to ensure every child is ready to learn, ready for school, and ready for life.
The Early Years Strategy established a clear vision: that babies and young children in Wirral should grow to be resilient, independent, effective communicators with the best possible opportunities for healthy development and future success. This vision emphasised the importance of early intervention, integrated support and recognising the lasting impact of pregnancy and early childhood on long-term outcomes.
Significant progress was made during this period. Improvements in child development reviews, strong early help engagement, the development of an Early Help Alliance and higher registration rates with Family Hubs – central to Wirral’s Best Start for Life offer – demonstrated how early years services became better connected and more responsive to need.
Wirral has a strong early year’s system, midwifery services, health visiting, family nurse partnership, early childhood service, family hubs, a vibrant voluntary sector, settings and schools. All coming together at every level, through front line spotlight sessions, operational management and strategic groups to drive progress. Best Start in Life has robust oversight from the Children, Young People and Education Committee as well as Health and Wellbeing Board.
The Best Start in Life Plan represents the natural next step in Wirral’s journey: a cohesive, systemwide framework that aligns with national expectations for all local authorities, consolidates the achievements of the past five years, and responds to the changing needs of babies, children and families. Our plan explores the strengths and challenges for our children, through each stage of early childhood, and how the Best Start in Life is supported by wider policies. It discusses the evidence-based interventions Wirral has selected, how they will be implemented and overseen, and what success will look like.
A bold vision
Wirral will become a place where every baby, child and family is supported from pre-birth by an early years system that is unified, ambitious and focused on child development.
Guided by the expectation that 75% of children should reach a Good Level of Development (GLD) by 2028 and informed by current national performance of 68.3% achieving GLD in 2024 to 2025, by 2028 we will become:
- A system that works as one to support families early.
Wirral’s Early Years partners will operate as a single, connected system, aligning priorities, data insights and practice to drive child development outcomes from birth to age 5. Early identification of need, be that developmental support, support in your home and relationships will be identified and supported at the earliest possible point. - A place where inequality is actively reduced.
Persistent national attainment gaps – such as the 20.5 percentage point gap for children eligible for free school meals – will be significantly narrowed in Wirral through targeted investment, intelligent data use and locally tailored interventions. - A workforce equipped, valued and inspired.
Every early years professional – from health visitors to childcare practitioners to reception teachers – will be empowered through a variety of support including training and shared standards of evidence-informed practice. - A community that cares about early childhood.
Every parent, carer and family network will receive the tools, confidence and support to build strong home learning environments, recognising that the earliest relationships shape lifelong outcomes.