Sure Start

Sure Start 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. The initiative originated from HM Treasury, 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 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 centres, and responsibility for them was transferred to local government.

The National Evaluation of Sure Start is ongoing. Initial research findings from NESS, published in 2005, suggested the impact of 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. As with the US Head Start programme, to which it is similar, whether or not the programme has any discernible impact continues to be a controversial question.

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.

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