Британдық әлеуметтік қызметтер бастамасы

British initiative on social services

Sure Start (named Flying Start in Wales, Best Start in Scotland) is a UK Government area based initiative, announced in 1998 by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, applying primarily in England with slightly different versions in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It introduced a network of children's centres and other services to support local families with children under 5, including "health services, parenting support, early learning and childcare, and parental employment support". with the aim of "giving children the best possible start in life" through improvement of childcare, early education, health and family support, with an emphasis on outreach and community development. Launched in 1998 by Tessa Jowell, Sure Start had similarities to the much older, and similarly named, Head Start programme in the United States and is also comparable to Australia Head Start and Ontario's Early Years Plan. The initiatives were subsequently bound together to form Sure Start Children's Centres, and responsibility for them was transferred to local government. Jowell subsequently commented in 2015, "I am very proud of setting up Sure Start, because the first three years of a child's life are absolutely critical in determining the chances they have subsequently." The National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS) project ran from 2001 until 2012. Initial research findings from NESS, published in 2005, suggested the impact of (the then termed) Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) was not as great as had been hoped. However, by 2010, NESS could identify a significant impact on some of the outcomes set for Sure Start. The Evaluation of Children's Centres in England (ECCE) project ran from 2009 until 2015. Results concerning the impact of (the subsequently termed) Sure Start Children's Centres (SSCCs) concluded that, "Children's Centres set up to support parents of young children can improve the mental health of mothers and functioning of families but that these benefits are being eroded by cuts.". after a further IFS study on the programme's educational impacts found that "children who lived within a short distance (2.5 kilometres) of a Sure Start centre for their first five years performed 0.8 grades better in their GCSEs". Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves refused to commit to expanding Sure Start in response to the report.

Initial funding was substantial, with £540m allocated for expenditure between 1999 and 2002, £452m of it within England, to set up 250 Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) reaching up to 150,000 children in areas of deprivation. The UK Government initially pledged to fund Sure Start for 10 years, but in 2003, Chancellor Gordon Brown announced the Government's long term plan to transfer Sure Start into the control of local government by 2005, and create a Sure Start Children's Centre in every community. Related to the Government's goal of reducing child poverty, the initial districts for Sure Start development were selected "according to the levels of deprivation within their areas" the focus being particularly on disadvantaged areas but open to all families living in the catchment area. Such catchment areas were selected locally by the projects. Sure Start was overseen by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Work and Pensions. The programme has been described by Tony Blair as "one of New Labour's greatest achievements". Each project was allowed to develop in its own way depending on the expressed wishes of parents and the guidance of the various organisations heading up each one. Policy on such matters as choosing volunteers and even the services offered were a local level decision. Sure Start local programmes were opened in waves, Round 1 indicates the first wave of programmes starting 1999. Round 6 represents the final wave of Sure Start local programmes mostly starting in 2003.

Cuts in general funding from central government to local authorities in England led to fears, in 2011, that up to 250 Sure Start centres would close. The former Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, admitted that funding for Sure Start had not been protected, as most central funding of local authorities would no longer be ring fenced. The decision would be left to local councils, though Children's Minister Sarah Teather said there was enough money available to maintain existing children's centres, should they wish. and parents and mothers' groups protested against these cuts, Many councils retreated. In February 2017, all 44 Sure Start children's centres in Oxfordshire were closed after High Court appeals against the measure failed. Ministers said they want to refocus the scheme to help the most disadvantaged families. The government is now allowing parents to choose their own childcare provider, and to get part funding provided via tax credits, rather than a centrally run service.

In 2017, a Briefing Paper for Parliament summarized the changes to Sure Start that had occurred under the 2015–2017 Conservative Government. Although "The Conservative Government did not make any significant operational or legislative changes to Sure Start during the 2015 2017 Parliament", "Arguably the most significant changes related to funding".