Kids who lived near Sure Starts 'less likely to end up with criminal record'

Access to the early years centres, introduced by New Labour, reduced the likelihood of young people getting a custodial sentence or criminal conviction, research shows

Kids and toddlers who lived near Sure Start centres were less likely to end up on a path of crime as a youngster, research shows.

Access to the early years centres, introduced by New Labour, also reduced the amount of time children spent in care, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The respected think tank’s latest report shows young people who lived by one of the early years centres when they were aged four or younger were 20% less likely to receive a custodial sentence and 13% less likely to receive a criminal conviction.

The report found the centres had no "detectable effect" on referrals to children’s social services but did reduce the amount of time looked after children spent in care – by 13% during late primary school. It is rare that kids come into contact with the youth justice system but any reduction translates into important savings for the Government.

Researchers said for every pound spent at its peak in 2010, Sure Start saved approximately a fifth of a pound - 19p - in public spending on youth justice and children’s social care. But the report authors said Sure Start had not been a "silver bullet for prevention", with access to the centres also found to be associated with increases in lower-level misbehaviour for some children.

Sure Start was introduced by the Labour government in 1999 to provide centres giving help and advice on child and family health, parenting, money, training and employment, with some also offering early learning and day care for pre-school children. The IFS has previously said funding for Sure Start fell by more than two thirds after the change in government and over 1,340 centres closed between 2010 and 2022.

Past research by the economics think tank has suggested children living near Sure Start centres in their first five years of life performed better in their GCSEs than others, and that more than 13,000 hospital admissions of children each year between the ages of 11 and 15 had been prevented because of such centres.

Nick Ridpath, a Research Economist at the IFS and a co-author of this report, said: “Sure Start reduced serious criminal convictions among young people, an additional benefit on top of those arising from improvements to health and education outcomes identified in our earlier work. While we find Sure Start had a lot of large and significant benefits, these findings also suggest there were areas where it could have done more to improve children's outcomes."

Ruth Maisey, education programme head at the Nuffield Foundation, said: "Sure Start has been eroded, but there is a growing body of evidence about its many positive benefits. This latest IFS report shows again how early intervention improves the lives of children and young people, ultimately saves the government money, and contributes to a more positive society. When finances are tight, it's a timely reminder for politicians to think longer term."