A principal goal of Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) has been to enhance the life chances of young children and their families by improving services in areas of high deprivation. SSLPs were set up between 1999 and 2003 and were experimental in the sense of trying out different ways of working with deprived communities where provision had been poor for years. They represent an intervention unlike almost any other undertaken to enhance the life prospects of young children in disadvantaged families and communities. A key difference is that
programmes are area-based, with all children under four and their families living in a prescribed area serving as the “targets” of intervention. This has the advantage of services within a SSLP area being universally available, thereby limiting any stigma that may accrue from individuals being targeted.