Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

Baroness Boycott Excerpts

Monday 7th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

May I start by congratulating my noble friend on his grandfatherly duties. He makes an important point about the contribution that parents and indeed grandparents can make to children’s earliest development. That is why, as part of the best start family hubs, we are providing support for parents. We are supporting them to read with their children and grandchildren and helping them with behaviour issues—which I am sure my noble friend’s grandchild definitely will not have. All these things are very helpful. We will move as quickly as possible on the action to improve the recruitment of early years workers with the £4,500 financial incentive and the professional register, both of which recognise the urgency of ensuring that we have the right people in place to deliver the quality of care and education that our youngest children deserve.

[Baroness Boycott (CB)]

My Lords, I very much welcome this Statement; I think it is fantastic. Like the noble Viscount, I have become a grandparent reasonably recently, but I am very struck by the difference from when I had my daughter, which is now 41 years ago. First, I got three nights in hospital, and, secondly, the moment I got back, the health visitor was at the door. I did not have to ask for the health visitor; she was there. She came two to three times a week for what seemed like most of a year, and she was absolutely wonderful.

My daughter had twins; they went to term but were a bit early and were jolly small. The moment the little ones could survive without their heated blanket, we were out; no health visitor turned up, until finally one did, and there was very little help with breastfeeding. That is the thing I really want to ask the Minister about: under this, will you have to go and search for the help, or will the help come to you? I ended up with my daughter getting her people on the phone and there were lots of panics—people are scared when they have little ones around. Everything I have heard from the Minister is simply amazing, but it misses that first crucial week or two when you are back home with your bundle of joy.

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right that the healthcare and support that families receive through the 1,001 critical days from conception to age two and beyond can have a lifelong impact. That is why our colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care are also focusing on ensuring that every child has the healthiest possible start in life, including by improving maternity care, strengthening health visiting services, increasing access to vaccinations and taking steps to reduce tooth decay in children. As the noble Baroness said, strengthening the health visiting services is particularly important for those parents bringing home their bundles of joy, with all the challenges that they bring with them.