The perceptions of statutory service providers of a local Sure Start programme: a shared agenda?

Sure Start is the UK government's flagship scheme for providing services to children and their families in deprived areas. This study aimed to examine the perceptions of statutory service providers about their experience of working with Sure Start professionals in one Nottinghamshire (UK) Sure Start programme, and to explore the extent to which there was a shared agenda and successful collaboration. A purposive sample of 18 statutory providers working within existing mainstream health, education and social care services were interviewed, between January and March 2005. Data were analysed through thematic content analysis. We found that although interviewees welcomed the additional input provided by Sure Start for the most vulnerable families, a number of tensions arose over key divergences between the philosophical positions of statutory providers and Sure Start. The most important tension was over Sure Start's philosophy of targeting resources on an entire geographical area. This was seen as antithetical to statutory providers' case-by-case approach, and raised questions about access and equity for families living outside Sure Start's boundaries. Sure Start's concentration on young children, and the time-limited nature of their services and activities, frustrated statutory providers who had a broader family focus, and a longer term perspective. The perceived under-resourcing of statutory services in comparison to Sure Start, and statutory providers' responsibility for 'selling' Sure Start services, strained a sense of equality between agencies and professionals, and undermined a sense of a shared agenda. We conclude that successful collaboration and a shared agenda depends upon a mutual understanding of the basic philosophy of service provision. The government's commitment to developing interprofessional collaboration will be furthered significantly by placing Sure Start services under the umbrella of statutory provision, and ensuring that the differing service philosophies are reconciled.