was implemented in ten local areas that were split into two Waves. The Wave 1 LAs2- selected by the DfE as examples of areas with strong practice, commitment to partnership working, and capacity to co-design and deliver the reforms- were announced in July 2023, with implementation initiated from December 2023. The Wave 2 local areas3, selected through an application process, were announced in April 2024, and implementation was initiated from July 2024. To guide delivery of the FFCP across these 10 areas, the DfE developed a Design Specification, setting out requirements for all Wave 1 and Wave 2 areas to implement. Driven by the phased approach of the rollout, early feedback from Wave 1 local areas and early engagement with Wave 2 local areas helped to update the Design Specification for Wave 2. As part of the FFCP delivery, a Delivery Partner was appointed by the DfE to work with the 10 Pathfinder local areas and support on local delivery and collect and share emerging learnings. This included a phase of co-design to agree a customised model design for each local area, which addressed local contextual needs and met the requirements of the Wave 1 and Wave 2 Design Specifications. The DfE commissioned Verian, an independent research organisation, to conduct an evaluation of the early stages of FFCP across Wave 1 and Wave 2, alongside Alma economics and the National Children’s Bureau (NCB). The evaluation comprised three workstreams: (a) An Implementation and Process evaluation (IPE) (ii) An Impact Evaluation (IE) (iii) A Value for Money (FM) Evaluation This report captures the early findings from the IPE, which included case study analysis in six of the ten local areas selected for the FFCP implementation. These case studies included depth interviews and focus groups wit