Supporting Families Programme

Information about the supporting families programme, locally known as Early help.

We are taking part in the National Supporting Families Programme.

The Supporting Families Programme involves local authorities identifying and working with families who have 3 or more support needs around these 10 headline indicators:

  • Getting a Good Education
  • Good Early Years Development
  • Improved Mental and Physical Health
  • Promoting Recovery and Reducing Harm from Substance Use
  • Improved Family Relationships
  • Children Safe from Abuse and Exploitation
  • Crime Prevention and Tackling Crime
  • Safe from Domestic Abuse
  • Secure Housing
  • Financial Stability

Taking part in the Supporting Families Programme helps us to identify and provide appropriate support to families most in need of help so we can improve their situation.

Early help

The Early help team are available to offer help and advice. Find out more information about the Early help team by visiting our Early help page.​

How we use your data

In order to identify families as being eligible for the programme, understand the difference we are making, and enable services to best meet the needs of families, we will be sharing and matching personal records that relate to you.

Delivering the Supporting Families programme requires us to participate in the National Impact Study.

This involves sharing the personal details of families meeting the criteria for the programme with the Office for National Statistics. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been appointed as 'trusted third party data processors' to securely handle and process data on behalf of the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities who are the data controllers

The personal data of individuals and families will be linked with information from public agencies such as the NHS and health organisations, Department for Work and Pensions, the Police, and the Ministry of Justice. The data relates to individuals and families meeting three or more of these criteria.

The reason to link the information is to help the government and local service providers understand whether or not the programme has been effective in addressing the needs within families.​

  • The data will only be used for carrying out research;
  • The linked data cannot be used to make decisions about individuals;
  • The linked information is anonymised to reduce the risk of individuals being identified;
  • It will be impossible for any person or family to be identified from any published reports;
  • The linked personal data will not be shared with or made available to the local authority or any other public agency;
  • All data is transferred, handled and stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act;
  • Appropriate measures are in place to prevent unauthorised use of the data;
  • The data is destroyed after five years. 
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