Purpose

• Under the previous Government Lincolnshire was previously selected as one of the 75 local authorities to benefit from the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) funded Start for Life and Family Hubs Programme. The current Government has recently announced the continuation and expansion of the programme through the Best Start Family Hubs Programme from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2029.
• The Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life Strategy sets out the Government’s commitment to improve child development and increase the good level of development (GLD) of all children by 2028.
• PaFT UK Ltd holds the exclusive rights to the FMI training, resources and accreditation and therefore is the only provider that can deliver this training.
• Due to the expansion of Family Hubs through the Best Start Family Hubs Programme from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2029, further FMI training places and the ongoing accreditation of existing Council staff is required to ensure sufficient capacity and consistent delivery across the County. This builds on the previous contract which was approved on the basis of PaFT holding exclusive rights to the FMI programme and no suitable DfE programmes being available.
• Market research has shown that although there are two similar evidence-based programmes on the market these do not meet the Council’s requirements. One is usually aimed at children aged 16 months plus who haven’t taken up the two-year-old free early years entitlement and/or children who haven’t met their developmental milestones or have speech and language delays. This is not consistent with the target age group of 0 to five years, which is the requirement for the Start for Life and Family Hubs programme. The other follows the National Portage Association (NPA) Framework and is delivered as a home visiting support service for children in their early years that have suspected or diagnosed special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and where there is a learning difficulty, developmental delay or physical difficulty impacting on the child’s educational development. Although there is a service that follows the NPA framework already commissioned in Lincolnshire, which also does not meet the requirements for the Start for Life and Family Hubs programme.
• The FMI training will support practitioners, through home visiting and group sessions, to increase parents/carers knowledge and confidence in supporting their child’s development, thus promoting a positive home learning environment and supporting parents/carers be their child’s first educator. Continuing to commission the same training will ensure consistency of delivery and technique not only for staff but also for
young children and their families accessing support through the use of FMI.

Decision

That the Executive Director of Children’s Services approves an exception to the Council’s Contract and Procurement Procedure Rules (CPPRs) to enter into a direct contractual arrangement with Parents as First Teachers (PaFT) UK Ltd for the delivery of further Foundation and Model Implementation (FMI) training, resources and ongoing accreditation from 1st May 2026 to 31st March 2029. The overall maximum value of the contractual arrangement to 31st March 2029 will be
£37,100 (excluding VAT) or £44,520 (including VAT).

Alternative options considered

Do nothing. The Council is a selected local authority to pilot the DfE funded Start for Life and Family Hubs programme, and the Council has identified the need to train more staff in FMI, which is one of the identified evidence-based programmes currently pre-approved by the DfE. To do nothing could result in the Council failing to fully meet its requirements as part of this programme, in particular the Parenting Support workstream. Furthermore, this could also negatively impact on the Council in ensuring a consistent approach across the County when working with Lincolnshire children and families.
Undertake a Request for Quotation (RFQ) process seeking at least three written quotations. Market research and commissioning activity undertaken as part of the initial and subsequent Start for Life and Family Hubs Programme contracts has confirmed that PaFT UK Ltd holds the exclusive rights to deliver the FMI training and associated accreditation. Whilst there are two similar evidence-based programmes available nationally, these do not meet the Council’s requirements for a universal 0-5 parenting support offer, do not align with the DfE-approved programme specification for the Best Start Family Hubs Programme and do not match the FMI training model previously commissioned by the Council.
Given the existing investment in PaFT training between 2023 and 2026, the positive evaluation findings, and the need to ensure consistency of practice across the Family Hubs network, undertaking an RFQ would require additional officer time and resource and is unlikely to generate a different procurement
outcome or deliver better value for money.