GovWire

• 126 million boost for families to give every child the best start of life and deliver on Plan for Change
• Funding will go to areas with high levels of deprivation to provide a range of support to parents, including on mental health and infant feeding

Thousands of families and children across England will be able to access pregnancy support, infant feeding advice, parenting classes and other support to give their child the best start in life, following a 126 million government funding boost - delivering on the governments Plan for Change.

Around 57 million will be made available to 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation in 2025 to 2026. This will provide a raft of support through Start for Life services to families with babies, from pregnancy up to the age of 2. The 57 million for Start for Life services will be given to local authorities and consists of:

• 36.5 million to improve mental health support for families and promote positive early relationships between babies and caregivers
• 18.5 million to improve infant feeding services and provide support with breastfeeding
• 2 million to ensure families can access and understand their local Start for Life services and support parents and carers to bring their valuable insight into service design

It comes on top of the 69 million announced in the budget for a network of family hubs, which act as a one-stop shop for families to get help with infant feeding advice, parenting classes and perinatal mental health support, among other areas.

Childrens early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. Antenatal classes, health visitors, parenting support, baby and toddler groups and access to affordable, high-quality early education and childcare - all are vital to guiding parents and supporting child development. Yet over 80% of parents have said they struggled to access services.

This lack of support in early years can act as a barrier to development and contributes to too many children not being ready to start school, with over a third of children unable to dress independently and 90% of reception teachers saying they have at least one child in the class not toilet trained.

Thats why, as part of our Plan for Change, were committed to strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood and improve long-term outcomes for children - including through todays investment in the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme.

By delivering accessible, integrated maternity, baby and family support services, and high-quality early education and childcare, todays announcement delivers on the governments mission to break down barriers to opportunity and set every child up for the best start in life.

To achieve the governments overall mission objective of closing the opportunity gap, the government has set a milestone as part of the Plan for Change of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn. Progress will be measured through 75% of 5 year olds reaching a good level of development in the early years foundation stage assessment by 2028 - and todays announcement marks a first step to delivering this milestone.

It also delivers on our mission to build an NHS fit for the future by shifting from hospital to community and bringing care closer to where people live. By offering parents extra support, including access to midwifery and health visitor services closer to their home, it will help tackle wider social causes of ill health, address inequalities and ultimately help ease pressure on hospitals and waiting lists.

Andrew Gwynne, Minister for Public Health and Prevention, said:

This crucial investment provides a strong foundation to deliver our commitment to raise the healthiest generation of children ever, by giving parents the support they need to ensure their baby has the best start in life.

The first 2 years of a childs life lay the building blocks for their physical and emotional wellbeing into adulthood. Thats why we are investing in early years, as part of our Plan for Change, to improve access to services in deprived areas to ensure no one is left behind.

Minister for Children and Families, Janet Daby, said:

Investment in these crucial services will break down barriers to opportunity, support families and get a record proportion of children ready for school.

Through our Plan for Change, well ensure tens of thousands more children are hitting key early learning goals on personal, social and physical development as well as communication, literacy and maths. Thats because children growing up in our country deserve the best start in life - nothing less.

The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is jointly run by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education. There are over 400 family hubs in England, covering half of all upper-tier councils. The hubs offer a range of services tailored to the local community, including midwifery and health visiting.

The Department for Education also funds parenting and home learning environmentprogrammes. These services support parents to form strong bonds with their babiesand develop better home environments which boost childrens social, emotional and cognitive development.

Staff at family hubs can connect families to a range of health and education services. This includes helping families access information and advice around debt and welfare, housing, domestic abuse, nutrition and oral health. They have a universal offer while targeting disadvantaged families or those who would benefit most.

People can get support from a family hub if they are:

• an expectant parent or carer
• a parent or carer of a child aged 0 to 19 - or 25 with special educational needs or a disability
• a young person up to the age of 19, or up to 25 with special educational needs or a disability

Councillor David Fothergill, Chairman of the Local Government Associations Community Wellbeing Board, said:

We are pleased government has continued investment in family hubs and Start for Life services, which play a crucial role in supporting families and giving children the best start in life.

Long-term, sustainable funding is essential to ensuring all councils can meet local needs effectively and invest in vital staff such as health visitors.

We look forward to continuing to work with the government to deliver on its ambition to create the healthiest generation of children.

Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of the National Childrens Bureau, said:

The National Childrens Bureau supports the governments ambitionto raise the healthiest generation of children ever, and its mission to increase the number of 5 year olds reaching agood level of development by the end of the early years foundation stage, before the next general election.

That is why we warmly welcome todays announcement that funding for the Start for Life programme will be extended until March 2026. This complements commitments inOctobers Budgetto fundfamily hubs, improvethe quality of early education and childcare, andprovide250 million for local authorities to develop a new Family Help offer for those struggling with the greatest adversity.

The funding announced today is a much needed down-payment that must pave the way for greater investment in the multi-year Spending Review, so that Start for Life can reach all parts of the country.

Estimates indicate 45.5 billion could be generated for the national economy by investing in early childhood. Creating the healthiest generation of children ever will increase the number of years individuals spend in good health as adults, generating significant improvements to population health.

Background information

The 75 local authorities receiving Family Hubs and Start for Life programme funding are as follows, categorised by region:

• East of England: Bedford; Luton; Norfolk; Peterborough; Thurrock

• London: Barking and Dagenham; Brent; Camden; Croydon; Enfield; Greenwich; Hackney; Haringey; Hounsow; Islington; Lambeth; Lewisham; Newham; Southwark; Tower Hamlets; Waltham Forest

• South East: East Sussex; Isle of Wight; Kent; Medway; Portsmouth; Southampton

• North East: County Durham; Gateshead; Hartlepool; Middlesborough; Newcastle upon Tyne; Northumberland; Redcar and Cleveland; South Tyneside; Sunderland

• North West: Blackburn with Darwen; Blackpool; Bolton; Halton; Knowsley; Liverpool; Manchester; Oldham; Rochdale; Salford; St Helens; Tameside

• Yorkshire and The Humber: Barnsley; Bradford; Calderdale; Doncaster; Kingston upon Hull, City of; North East Lincolnshire; North Lincolnshire; Rotherham; Sheffield; Wakefield

• East Midlands: Derby; Leicester; Lincolnshire; North Northamptonshire; Nottingham

• West Midlands: Birmingham; Coventry; Dudley; Sandwell; Stoke-on

  

  View the original news story