Families First Partnership programme - Social Care reforms update

The national Families First Partnership reform programme is intended to deliver a reimagined end-to-end children’s social care system with a focus on prevention and early intervention. The new structure will prioritise integrated working and the removal of barriers and hand-offs within the system. It brings together targeted early intervention with statutory safeguarding into a seamless Family Help approach.    

In March 2025 the Department for Education (DfE) published their Families First Partnership programme guide to direct the implementation of the Families First approach in local areas and initiate a nationwide roll out.   

The four key elements of the reforms are:   

• integrated Family Help services   

• new multi-agency child protection teams   

• increasing family group decision-making     

• revisions to safeguarding partnership structures.   

A revised and updated edition of the Families First Partnership programme guide was published in March 2026 including:  

• delivery expectations  

• how progress will be measured  

• areas for local flexibility  

• the support that is available.  

On the 26 March the DfE also published updated Working together to safeguard children statutory guidance on multi-agency working which underpins the new ways of working central to the reforms.  

2025/26 was earmarked as a ‘Transformation Year’ with councils designing and testing new arrangements. The Government expects the new system to be in place by 1 April 2027.