Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

Gareth Snell Excerpts

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

Through today’s announcement, we are ensuring that areas that do not currently receive funding will receive it, but alongside that we will ensure that all local authorities are able to deliver into the next phase. My hon. Friend is right that the services in her community, including those serving the most disadvantaged communities, make an enormous difference. That is why I am incredibly proud that we are investing half a billion pounds across the spending review period, which will allow us to reach half a million more children than is the case right now.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend, partly for the launch today of the national year of reading. As the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on literacy, that is a wonderful and joyous thing to see. We all know that reading with children can be great not just for their literacy development, but for their oracy, as well as for boosting confidence and parental engagement with children.

In Stoke-on-Trent, we have a wonderful family hub operating in the Bentilee ward in my constituency. Its success is due to the fact that it was co-created by organisations on the ground, such as Thrive At Five and Alpha Academies, that understand the importance of families and the nuances of those communities. Will the Secretary of State say a little more about what flexibility there will be in the future hubs? May I invite her or one of her ministerial team to visit the Bentilee hub, so that they can see what great work we are doing and how it might inform national practice?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I have heard much about the work going on in Stoke, including the Thrive At Five programme, and I know my hon. Friend met the Minister to talk about that. I would be happy to visit, or perhaps one of my colleagues might be able to, but I would love to see or hear more about what is going on there, because I have heard wonderful things. It demonstrates the value of ensuring that services are responsive to what parents want, as well as there being a clear set of expectations about minimum levels of support alongside that, really targeted to the needs of communities and parents. That was where Sure Start was at its best: listening to communities, working with communities and building that trust, including among families who might otherwise not feel able to access that kind of service.

My hon. Friend mentions the national year of reading. I am delighted with the role he has played to make it a reality that today we are announcing that 2026 will be a national year of reading. It will be a welcome and timely opportunity to spread the joy and love of reading throughout our country to ensure that all our children have access to a fantastic range of books. Perhaps we, as adults, can lead by example by reading a little bit more and not scrolling quite so much.