Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

Andrew Lewin Excerpts

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

I agree with my hon. Friend. It is this Labour Government who will once again ensure that all our children are set up to succeed. We will build on the proud legacy of Sure Start, take the best evidence of what works, and expand and enhance that for the generations of children to come, in his community and across the country.

[Andrew Lewin (Welwyn Hatfield) (Lab)]

The postcode in which a person is born still has a profound impact on the life they lead. That is no more true than in my constituency, where those born in Hatfield have a healthy life expectancy that is 11 years shorter than those born three miles down the road in Brookmans Park. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is essential that the new Best Start family hubs have integrated care, giving advice on early years education as well as health support?

[Bridget Phillipson]

That is critical, which is why we need to bring together healthcare, education, libraries, childminders and voluntary and community groups in that endeavour to ensure that all our children get the best start in life. Like my hon. Friend, I am determined to ensure that background does not equal success. The driving mission of this Labour Government is to ensure that where you are from and the family you are born into does not determine what you achieve, and that your hard work, your aspiration and all that you do drives what you can achieve.