Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of health visiting on the Government’s target of raising the healthiest generation of children ever.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. The child health workforce, including health visiting teams, are central to how we support families to give their children the best start in life.

Health visitors lead the Healthy Child Programme, England’s universal, community-based public health programme for children and families. The work of health visitors enables early intervention and prevents the need for high-cost NHS treatments down the line. Their impact is vital to realising both our ambition to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and the shifts from hospital to community, and treatment to prevention.

As set out in the Best Start in Life strategy, the Government has committed to strengthening health visiting services so that all families have access to high-quality, support they need.