Action plan structure
Cumberland’s Best Start in Life Strategic Plan has been designed to complement, not duplicate, existing partnership arrangements. Senior Leaders asked for a structure that strengthens alignment across the system, and the partnership groups responsible for delivering the plan are shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Cumberland’s partnerships for delivering of the Best Start in Life. A diagram showing key partnerships in Cumberland that contribute to delivering the Best Start in Life plan, including strategic, operational and multi‑agency groups.
Action plans
SMART action plans within the overarching strategy set out the specific steps that will lead to improved outcomes for children in Cumberland. These outcomes include:
- improved levels of personal and social development at ages 2 and 5
- increased take up of Healthy Child Programme reviews
- improved good level of development (GLD) at EYFS, aiming for 74.2%, including 56.6% for children facing disadvantage
- sufficient, accessible childcare and a thriving early years workforce
- children with SEND making good progress, including in emotional wellbeing
- improved health outcomes such as reduced tooth decay and obesity, and increased breastfeeding and toileting independence
- fewer children aged 0 to 4 on a Child Protection Plan
- increased involvement of children and families in service design and co‑production
A list of these action plans and their lines of reporting are set out below:
| Action plan | Owner | Reporting to |
|---|---|---|
| Priority 1 – expand and improve family support through a high‑quality Best Start in Life offer | BSIL Strategic Lead and Public Health CYP Lead | BSIL Strategic Group |
| Cumberland’s action plan to increase the 2 to 2.5‑year developmental assessment uptake | Public Health CYP Lead | OHID |
| Priority 2 – expand and improve access to early education and childcare | Early Years Sufficiency Manager | BSIL Strategic Group |
| Cumberland’s early years workforce recruitment and retention solutions group action plan | BSIL Strategic Lead | BSIL Strategic Group |
| Priority 3 – improve quality of provision in early years settings and schools | BSIL Strategic Lead and Learning Improvement / Early Years Manager | BSIL Strategic Group |
| Cumberland’s action plan for early years speech, language and communication | BSIL Strategic Lead and SALT Clinical Lead | BSIL Strategic Group |