Toilet-training: Support for Parents

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

Again, that is an important point. We all welcome that a lot of advice and guidance from the Best Start family hubs, including advice from public health visitors, will be available online. We have to embrace the digital aspect of this to enable people to be in communication with other people, access information in a timely manner, and feed back their concerns.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that it was a mistake by the previous Government to close down Sure Start centres and that the Labour Government are having to pick up the mess that they left on this occasion?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I could not agree with my noble friend more. As someone on the front line who had to deal with the cuts to grants almost from day one of the new Government after 2010, so many of which fell on front-line children’s services, I think we are seeing the impact of those cuts. Sure Start was a proven model. I look forward to the rollout of the Best Start family hubs, which look to replace what was lost over the past decade and a half.