A FREE GLD & Best Start in Life planning template for local authorities

Local authorities across England are being asked to clearly demonstrate how they will deliver Best Start in Life ambitions, improve Good Level of Development (GLD) outcomes and reduce inequalities in early childhood.

At the same time, local systems are under significant pressure. There is a lot going on: new expectations, ongoing delivery, workforce challenges, data fragmentation and the need to respond to rising levels of need — all at once.

In response to this, we have created a FREE GLD & Best Start in Life planning template to support local areas to set out a clear, credible and evidence-informed plan.

Why we created this GLD planning template

Through our work with local authorities, Family Hubs, early years, health and voluntary sector partners, we consistently hear the same challenge:
not a lack of ambition or ideas, but the need for something practical.

There is already a nest of useful information available. The DfE provides GLD data and insight, and organisations such as Nesta have developed valuable resources, playbooks and tools to support evidence-informed Best Start planning.

However, many local areas still face a gap when it comes to structuring this information into a coherent plan that:

• brings together data, insight and delivery activity
• reflects local priorities and inequalities
• can be shared confidently with partners and leaders

This gap became particularly clear during our recent Best Start in Life research with the Local Government Association, where we worked with local authorities across the country to understand what is working, what is hard and what helps systems make progress in practice.

One consistent theme was the absence of a simple, usable planning structure.

The GLD & Best Start planning template has been developed by our lead researcher and evaluator, drawing on:

• national insight and emerging best practice
• our Best Start work with the Local Government Association
• our experience supporting local systems across England

The template is designed to:

• help structure thinking rather than add more work
• support a clear narrative about priorities, inequalities and action
• bring together health, early years, education and family support
• make it easier to articulate how local activity contributes to improved GLD

It simply sorts things into a clear, usable structure that areas can adapt to their own context, capacity and stage of development.

What the template is (and isn’t)

This template is:

• a practical starting point for GLD and Best Start planning
• flexible and adaptable to local circumstances
• grounded in what we see helping systems move from ambition to delivery

It is not:

• exhaustive or prescriptive
• a one-size-fits-all model
• a replacement for local knowledge or professional judgement

Download the FREE GLD & Best Start planning template

We are sharing this template for FREE because local areas asked for it, and because we believe practical, usable tools are most helpful when they are openly available.

Download the FREE GLD & Best Start in Life planning template here

Supporting local systems to improve early childhood outcomes

Alongside developing this template, our research team and specialists continue to work with local authorities and partners across the country to support improvement in early childhood outcomes and reduce inequalities.

Our work gives us a strong, practical view of:

• emerging best practice across England
• common challenges, including data and partnership issues
• the system-level approaches that help areas make progress at pace

If using the template helps clarify priorities or highlights areas where further support would be useful — such as sense-checking plans, strengthening system alignment or supporting implementation — we would be very happy to have a conversation.