Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Family Nurse Partnership on children's long-term outcomes.

There has been one completed randomised control trial (RCT) to evaluate this programme, and another one is in process.

The Building Blocks RCT published in 2015 evaluated the effectiveness of implementing Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) in England on four primary short-term outcomes relating to the mother. The evaluation report is available to view here:

http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/504729/Building-Blocks-Full-Study-Report.pdf

The current Building Blocks 2-6 Study will evaluate the long-term effectiveness, and the cost and consequences of the FNP parenting support programme in reducing maltreatment in young children by following up the same mothers and their children for a further four years until the child is six years old, therefore this study will measure whether the FNP programme reduces child maltreatment in the longer-term. The study is expected to report in summer 2018. Further information on the study is available to view here:

http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/centre-for-trials-research/research/studies-and-trials/view/building-blocks-26