Families First Partnership Programme
DFE · DFT_0498_2526-Q2
Department page: Department for Education
| Data as at | Rating | End date | Whole-life cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | Amber (the department's own assessment) | 31 March 2029 | £2,922.61m (in 2024/25 prices) |
Each year’s cost is shown with its price basis. Costs are not compared between years: the March 2024 and March 2025 reports state no price basis, and from March 2026 costs are in 2024/25 prices.
The department’s commentary
This is the department’s own commentary. It may use different prices from the table above, so its figures may not match.
March 2026
Rating: Programme delivery confidence for 2025/26 is Amber. The programme started this year and has moved at pace with national milestones being delivered as planned. This includes confirmation of multi-year funding (£2.4bn over 3 years), published grant determination letters and clear national expectations for full delivery by March 2027 (set out in the updated programme guide). The first independent evaluation report of the Families First for Children Pathfinders programme was also published, alongside several learning documents and engagement events which are accessible by all safeguarding partners and will support national rollout. These steps have provided local areas with ring-fenced funding and clear direction to progress the rollout of family help, multi-agency child protection teams and increased used of family networks. The Amber rating reflects ongoing delivery risk rather than a decline in performance, driven primarily by the complexity of the multi-agency reforms and the reliance on local areas (local authorities and their safeguarding partners) to deliver this change alongside wider pressures and potential competing priorities across public sector reforms. Early insight from delivery plans (which are signed by all safeguarding partners) and the first three monitoring data returns, show commitment to the programme from most local areas during the transformation year, but there remains variance in progress and pace. Looking ahead, programme delivery confidence will depend on local area progress towards the March 2027 expectation of full delivery. Local authorities will need to protect the ring-fenced funding for spend on prevention, and translate national guidance and local ambition into sustained service change that benefits children and families in the local area. National priorities for 2026/27 are strengthening monitoring and assurance, targeting delivery support where risk is identified as highest, and continued work with partners at a local and national level (specifically health and police) to maintain a unified approach for local delivery. Confidence will improve as quarterly monitoring returns track local delivery progress across key (already defined) delivery indicators more closely, meaning timely action can be taken in areas of underperformance and emerging best practice more readily shared.
Schedule: The programme's end-date at 25/26-Q4 remained at 31/03/2029. This is the first year of reporting for this programme, and the end date remains unchanged from go-live.
Cost: The programme's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) is 3,062,773,075 (as agreed up to 28/29). This is the first year of reporting for this programme, so there is no previously reported figure for comparison.
Names, figures, dates, ratings and commentary are as the department reported them. Where a rating, cost or date is withheld, the file’s wording is shown. Every major project →