Best Start Inclusion Practitioner

Milton Keynes City Council; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday allowance 28 days + 32 after 5

LGPS pension

Family-friendly policies

Health & lifestyle benefits

Salary sacrifice car scheme

Blue Light Card discounts

Job summary

Milton Keynes City Council is recruiting a Best Start Inclusion Practitioner to join the Best Start Family Hubs team. You will identify emerging SEND needs and provide practical early intervention, supporting families to access inclusive services across family hubs, community settings and homes.

You will lead a caseload, coordinate plans with health, education and local partners, and promote inclusive practice.

Qualifications

• A Level 3 qualification or equivalent in early years, education or SEND.
• Experience supporting children and families with professionals for positive outcomes.
• Ability to build trusting relationships with families.
• Experience assessing needs, developing support plans and monitoring progress.
• Understanding inclusive practice and local SEND services.
• Strong communication and workload management in a busy community role.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality support to children and families by identifying emerging additional needs and providing practical early intervention.
• Support the development of inclusive approaches through activities, guidance and tailored support that improve outcomes for children.
• Lead on a caseload of families with emerging special educational needs and disabilities, coordinating plans and acting as Lead Practitioner where appropriate.
• Work collaboratively to connect families with health services, education providers, community organisations and other local support.
• Ensure effective assessments are completed using observations, professional input and recognised tools to identify needs and inform support plans.
• Contribute to the promotion of inclusive practice across Best Start Family Hubs and partner services throughout Milton Keynes.

Skills

Relationship building

Communication

Team collaboration

Support planning

Needs assessment

Education

A Level 3 qualification in early years/education/SEND

Job description

Job Introduction

We're recruiting a Best Start Inclusion Practitioner to join our Best Start Family Hubs team. Our Best Start Family Hubs support children and families to access the right help at the right time, helping children achieve the best possible start in life. This rewarding role will play a key part in identifying emerging special educational needs and disabilities and ensuring families receive timely advice, guidance and practical support. The Best Start Inclusion Practitioner (BSIP) role is a mandated requirement of the Department for Education's Best Start Family Hub and Healthy Babies reforms and is directly linked to Milton Keynes City Council's grant funding conditions. As a funded delivery requirement, the Department for Education expects local authorities to have BSIPs in post, or active recruitment underway, by October 2026, with progress monitored through regular monthly assurance meetings. To support implementation of the new Children's Social Care quadrant model and ensure compliance with grant obligations, Milton Keynes will initially establish four BSIP posts, representing a critical investment in both service transformation and ongoing funding assurance. BSIPs will provide direct support to families where emerging special educational needs and disabilities are identified. Working across family hubs, community settings and family homes, you'll help children and families access inclusive support while strengthening early developmental outcomes. You'll join a council that is dedicated, respectful and collaborative, where we work together to make our city a better place to live and where every day matters.

Site-Based role

This is a Site-Based role, and you'll be expected to work from the designated workplace.

Interviews for this role will be held on 30th September 2026

At Milton Keynes City Council, we aim to make a difference every day. We're dedicated, respectful and collaborative. We act as one council, and we work hard to create cleaner, safer and healthier communities while tackling inequalities and supporting people to thrive. Find out more about working with us here: www.mkcounciljobs.org.uk

Main Responsibility

• Deliver high-quality support to children and families by identifying emerging additional needs and providing practical early intervention.
• Support the development of inclusive approaches through activities, guidance and tailored support that improve outcomes for children.
• Lead on a caseload of families with emerging special educational needs and disabilities, coordinating plans and acting as Lead Practitioner where appropriate.
• Work collaboratively to connect families with health services, education providers, community organisations and other local support.
• Ensure effective assessments are completed using observations, professional input and recognised tools to identify needs and inform support plans.
• Contribute to the promotion of inclusive practice across Best Start Family Hubs and partner services throughout Milton Keynes.

The Ideal Candidate

• A Level 3 qualification, or equivalent experience, in early years, education, health, child development, special educational needs and disabilities, or a related field.
• You bring experience of supporting children and families and working with a range of professionals to achieve positive outcomes.
• Your ability to build trusting relationships helps families feel supported, informed and included.
• Experience in assessing needs, developing support plans and monitoring progress enables you to provide effective interventions.
• A strong understanding of inclusive practice and local special educational needs and disabilities services will help you make a real difference.
• Confidence when communicating, recording information and managing your own workload allows you to work effectively in a busy community-based role.

Full UK Driving Licence and access to a vehicle

To be successful in this role, you'll need a full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle. If we offer you the role, we'll ask you to provide evidence of your driving licence and vehicle insurance, including cover for business use. We're unable to confirm an appointment until these documents are received.

Safer Recruitment

Safer Recruitment applies to this role. This means that, before any appointment is confirmed, we'll carry out a range of pre-employment checks to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of children, young people and vulnerable adults. These checks may include identity verification, where candidates will be required to provide original identification documents, including a full birth certificate, employment history and reference checks, qualification checks and an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, (unless you are currently registered with the DBS Update Service). check where required.

Package Description

In addition to your salary, we offer a range of benefits including:

• Great holiday benefits - most roles include 28 days annual leave every year on top of public (bank) holidays, increasing to 32 days after five years. In addition, there is a holiday purchase scheme allowing staff to purchase up to 5 additional days of leave each year.
• Excellent pension - everyone who works for us can join the national Local Government Pension Scheme, widely regarded as one of the best available.
• A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity support.
• Access to an award-winning employee benefits programme that includes a health cash plan, a low-cost bike purchase scheme as well as high street discounts and money off entertainment and travel.
• Salary sacrifice car scheme - eligible employees can lease an electric or low-emission vehicle at a reduced cost through salary sacrifice, subject to National Minimum Wage and other eligibility requirements.
• Blue Light Card - employees working within social care can qualify for an additional range of discounts from national retailers and local businesses.

Why join us? Along with more on our Benefits, discover why Working at the City Council could be the right move for you here Working at the Council | Milton Keynes

Roles are either 'site based' or 'home based'.

Site based roles are mainly based at the workplace, with the option to work from home for up to two days a week, depending on service needs.

Home based roles are mainly based at home, with the expectation of attending the workplace up to one day a week.

The working arrangement for each role is set by the manager, based on service requirements.

About The Organisation

Milton Keynes City Council is a large, modern and financially stable employer with around 2,500 people working across our eight areas. Together we provide local residents and businesses with a wide range of important round-the-clock services and aim to make our city a better place to live.

We work hard because of the demands placed on us, like protecting children from harm or preventing homelessness. However, working for the city is always rewarding and everyone has the opportunity to make a real difference.

We're very proud of our diversity and are committed to having a workforce that reflects the community we serve. Whatever your background, you will be welcome here if you share our values of being dedicated, respectful and collaborative.

We offer great training and support and because of the size and scale of the organisation there are always new opportunities to explore when it's time for a new role.

If you'd like to know more about how we do things and what matters to us, take a look at our short booklet What makes us Milton Keynes City Council, see attached.