Bexley families will benefit from new Family Hubs and enhanced kinship support as part of a wider transformation of children's services. The initiatives, discussed at a recent Children's Services and Education Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, aim to provide more integrated and preventative support for families.
The Families First
programme is central to these changes. This programme will see the establishment of four Best Start Family Hubs
across the borough, designed to offer accessible, community-based support. The Erith Best Start Family Hub is already live, with plans progressing for additional hubs. The full rollout of all four hubs is projected to be completed by March 2027. These hubs will house integrated Family Help teams, aiming to improve outcomes through earlier intervention and strengthened multi-agency collaboration. Beyond general integrated teams, the hubs will offer parenting programmes, home learning environment interventions, and outreach/pop-up services at locations like libraries. A new digital platform will also be available for families to access information and services. The hubs will work alongside health services and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) to offer neighbourhood local services.
Bexley has also been selected as the only London borough to participate in the national Kinship Zones
pilot. This Department for Education-funded initiative will provide dedicated financial and practical support to kinship carers, aiming to improve the stability of placements and reduce the need for children to enter local authority care. The programme, which launched in April 2026, includes the introduction of a new Kinship Allowance and Family Network Support Packages (FNSPs).
The new Kinship Allowance is for Special Guardians and lives with
Child Arrangements Order carers where the child would otherwise be in care. These are weekly, non-means-tested payments that run until the child reaches eighteen. FNSPs are flexible, short-term financial packages designed to help remove practical barriers such as the need for furniture, transport, or childcare, enabling wider family members to step in and safely care for a child before statutory involvement escalates.
The success of the Kinship Zones
pilot will be measured through several outcomes, including Kinship placement stability and sustainability
(supporting children to remain within family networks rather than entering Local Authority care), Carer wellbeing
(reduction of financial hardship and stress, improvements in quality of life and mental health), and Wider system benefits
(availability of information and families' trust in the local offer). Carers will also participate in an independent research evaluation by Alma Economics, including baseline and exit surveys, case studies, and interviews.
Furthering the focus on early intervention, the Best Start in Life
strategy aims to support child development from pregnancy to age five. Bexley has set an ambitious target for 80% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2029. This programme is supported by £3 million in funding from the DfE and includes the development of additional Best Start Family Hubs.
The Families First
programme and the Best Start in Life
strategy are being coordinated through several mechanisms. The development of the new Best Start Family Hubs is central to both programmes. The Future Bexley Children's Transformation
programme adds a co-ordinating function across all programmes. Additionally, a single Children's Services Communications Plan
is being developed to ensure coordinated messages are delivered to families and stakeholders. All children's programmes are interdependent and their dependencies are actively managed via aligned governance and close joint working between individual programme leads.
