A curated collection of national guidance, tools and templates to support the development and delivery of Best Start Network Sites. It includes resources to help local areas strengthen partnerships, map community assets and build accessible, integrated support for children and families.
Strategic Planning and Site Development
Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies Guidance
The statutory and operational guidance for local authorities implementing Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies, including expectations around network sites, partnership working and delivery models.
LG Inform
A free Local Government Association benchmarking tool that enables local authorities to compare performance, demographic and contextual data with other areas. Useful for identifying priority communities, analysing local need and monitoring outcomes.
Fingertips Public Health Profiles
Public health data profiles providing local authority level indicators covering child health, deprivation, school readiness, infant mortality and wider determinants of health. Useful for needs assessments and gap analysis.
https://fingertips.phe.org.uk
One Public Estate (LGA)
The One Public Estate programme supports councils and public sector partners to make better use of public assets. Local Authorities can access support around asset mapping, co-location opportunities, public estate reviews, service integration and community hub development. OPE also provides technical support, partnership development and funding opportunities.
https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/one-public-estate
Partner Engagement and Sustainable Delivery
Family Hubs and Early Help Overview
Produced through the National Centre for Family Hubs and Local Government Association, this resource summarises evidence for integrated family support and partnership working.
https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Family%20hubs%20and%20Early%20Help%20an%20overview.pdf
Local Government Association Salience Model for Mapping Stakeholders
This Local Government Association guide is a practical stakeholder mapping tool designed to help organisations identify, prioritise and plan engagement with the people and groups affected by a project, decision or service change. It uses the Stakeholder Salience Model, which assesses stakeholders against three factors: power (their ability to influence decisions), legitimacy (their right to be involved) and urgency (how strongly they are affected or concerned).
To use the tool, list all relevant stakeholders and assess each one against these three criteria, then give them a priority rating (for example, green, amber or red). Those with the highest combined levels of power, legitimacy and urgency should receive the most focused engagement. The guide then helps you decide the most appropriate communication channels, messages and engagement methods for each stakeholder group, ensuring that both influential stakeholders and those most affected by the issue have a voice.
Best Start in Life Family Hubs Resource Library
A collection of national guidance, tools, examples and implementation resources relevant to Family Hubs and Best Start delivery.
Community Development and Co-production
Nesta: Asset-Based Community Development for Local Authorities
Practical guidance for councils on implementing Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), strengthening community capacity and working alongside residents to develop sustainable solutions. Includes local authority case studies.
https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/asset-based-community-development-local-authorities/
Locality
Locality provides guidance, resources and learning on community development, community organisations, neighbourhood working and asset-based approaches.
https://locality.org.uk
Integrated Network Development
Best Start Family Hubs Framework
Includes expectations relating to network sites, outreach, place-based delivery, accessibility and integrated services.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a2965046d178a6fb7e32098/Best_start_family_hubs_and_healthy_babies_-_guidance_for_local_authorities.pdf
Quality Assurance and Monitoring
LG Inform Benchmarking Tool
Useful for developing local dashboards, identifying comparative indicators and tracking progress across local government datasets.
https://lginform.local.gov.uk
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) Fingertips
Provides outcome measures and comparator data that can support local monitoring frameworks and evaluation activity.
https://fingertips.phe.org.uk
Templates
Network Site Suitability Assessment Template
A practical tool to help identify, assess and prioritise stakeholders based on their level of influence, interest and impact on a project or service. Use it to determine who should be engaged, how they should be involved, and where to focus engagement efforts to ensure the right people are informed, consulted and included in decision-making.
Family Hub and Network Asset Mapping Template
A comprehensive planning tool to help local authorities identify, map and assess Family Hub, community and partnership assets across their Best Start Network. Use it to understand local need, identify gaps in provision, evaluate existing and potential network sites, and develop action plans that strengthen service accessibility, partnership working and outcomes for children and families