From Stronger Practice to Stronger Communities: Could Early Years Hubs Become commissioning offices for local early years needs?

There’s no denying it, something’s been missing in the fabric of early years support since the slow dismantling of Sure Start. Those community-based centres that brought together education, health, parenting, and social support under one roof didn’t just change lives; they changed futures.

So with the growing momentum around Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs (EYSPHs), and the recent announcement of a government-led Early Years Strategy, the question must be asked:

Could these hubs evolve into something deeper? Could they become the new local offer for early help, family support, and child development?

Reimagining the Role of Hubs

Right now, Stronger Practice Hubs offer vital professional development, disseminate evidence-based practice (I use that term lightly), and connect early years practitioners across their regions. But what if we took this one step further?

Imagine EYSPHs as community-rooted centres for children and families, acting as both pedagogical leaders and local commissioning bodies. Hubs could become places across their reach where early years expertise is combined with holistic support, just as Sure Start once was, but with renewed focus, sustainability, and sector-led innovation.

What Would This Look Like?

Here’s a vision of what Stronger Practice Hubs 2.0 could offer:

A Local System Leader

Each hub becomes a strategic anchor, linking education, health, and care. Think: a commissioner’s office rooted in pedagogy. Hubs would help identify community needs, fund targeted support, and convene local services, all with the child at the centre.

Co-Located Family Services

Bring together perinatal health, speech and language therapists, mental health practitioners, parenting advisors, and early years educators in one welcoming virtual and local spaces. Families shouldn’t have to navigate a maze, support should be relational and local to their needs.

A Space for Play, Connection and Belonging

Beyond services, we need spaces across all of the reach areas of joy. Hubs could offer playgroups, story time, sensory spaces, and coffee mornings, reminding us that community matters just as much as curriculum.

Equity-Driven Commissioning

Using insight from families and practitioners, hubs could commission support that’s culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and locally relevant. From food support to SEND advocacy, these centres would respond rather than dictate.

Why Now?

The announcement of a national Early Years Strategy is a chance to move from rhetoric to reality. If we’re truly going to “level up” life chances, it must start with children, all children, not just those in the right postcode or with the right family income.

Reimagining EYSPHs is not about creating more bureaucracy, it’s about making visible what matters: relationships, community, care, and the right to a strong start in life. The infrastructure is there, we don’t need to spend copious amounts of money trying something new. Yes I think the Stronger Practice Hubs might change from the remit they currently have but I feel it’s achievable.

Final Thought

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We already know what works. Sure Start taught us that wraparound, community-anchored support changed lives.

Let’s take that legacy, pair it with the sector-led innovation we see in today’s hubs, and create a future where every child and family has access to the support they need, early, locally, and without condition.

Because stronger practice can, and should, lead to stronger communities.