Testing new ways of supporting families earlier and giving every child the best start
Between November 2025 and March 2026, Leeds took part in the Community Mission Challenge (CMC), a 100-day programme delivered in partnership with the Cabinet Office as part of the Government’s Places for Growth agenda.
Community Mission Challenges are designed to test new ideas quickly, learn what works in real-world settings, and generate evidence that can inform national policy and future reform.
Why Leeds?
Leeds has a strong track record of health and care innovation and is home to the Department of Health and Social Care’s Health and Social Care Hub. Since 2022, the city has brought together national government and local partners to explore new ways of improving outcomes for communities.
This made Leeds an ideal place to test a new approach focused on children and families.
The challenge
The Leeds Community Mission Challenge explored a simple but important question:
Can better integration between health, social care, early years and wider public services help prevent children entering care by intervening earlier and working differently with families?
The work focused on children aged 0-2 and their families in part of Inner East Leeds, where some communities experience higher levels of deprivation, poorer health outcomes and greater involvement with statutory children’s social care services.
How we worked
Using the Cabinet Office’s Test, Learn, Grow methodology, partners worked directly with families, practitioners and system leaders to:
- Understand local challenges and barriers
- Design new approaches collaboratively
- Test ideas in live operational settings
- Learn quickly from what worked and what did not
- Identify opportunities for wider adoption and scale
This approach enabled rapid learning while keeping the experiences of families at the centre of the work.
Why this matters
The learning from the Leeds Community Mission Challenge extends beyond Leeds.
The insights generated have relevance to several key national programmes and reform agendas, including:
- Neighbourhood Health
- Families First Partnership Programme
- Best Start Family Hubs
- Wider public service reform initiatives
By testing new ways of working across organisational boundaries, the Challenge has helped build evidence about how services can work together more effectively to improve outcomes for children and families.
Learn more
For a detailed overview of the programme, its methodology, key findings and recommendations, read the:
Community Mission Challenge Summary Report (opens pdf document)
If you would like further information you can email [email protected]