Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

The extra investment that is going into Best Start family hubs runs alongside the additional £500 million that we are committing to early support and preventive services along with our colleagues at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. A number of other Members have asked about the adoption and special guardianship support fund. We recognise its importance, which is why we have provided a budget of £50 million for the next year. We have had to make decisions to ensure that more children can benefit from such support, but that goes hand in hand with the kinship allowances and improved support for foster carers that we are determined to deliver as part of our wider reform of children’s social care.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s announcement. This will make a big difference for many families in my constituency.

An issue of which the Secretary of State is aware is the SEND override and the problems that it is causing local authorities. Second only to temporary accommodation and adult social care, SEND is the key area on which many of them are focusing, so I welcome the fact that she wants to work with campaigners and families in looking into this long-term issue. She also mentioned the digital offer for the Best Start family hubs. As she will know, many families—the very ones we need to target—are digitally excluded. Will she tell us a bit more about what that digital offer will be?

[Bridget Phillipson]

My hon. Friend asked first about the statutory SEND override, and I know that, as Chair of the Select Committee, she takes a serious interest in this area. We recognise that local authorities will need support during the transition to a reformed SEND system, which is why we extended the statutory override in the spending review, and, as my hon. Friend knows, we have provided some detail for local authorities and will provide more.

As for the digital offer, I appreciate my hon. Friend’s point about the need to give all families access to services. There are still challenges involving digital exclusion, and she was right to draw attention to them. We will provide more details about how the digital offer aligns with the NHS offer before long, but effective outreach support and community engagement are also critical. One of the key lessons that we should take from Sure Start—and the evidence for this is incredibly strong—is that it was at its most effective, and had the greatest reach and impact in respect of disadvantaged children, when there was strong engagement with communities. Through the work that the Cabinet Office has recently been leading, we have learnt of important ways in which we can ensure that more disadvantaged parents who are struggling with issues such as poverty have access to those services, and as we proceed with the wider roll-out we will be sure to take that on board as well.