Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that lactation consultants are widely available on the NHS.

The Government’s vision, as set out in The Best Start for Life: A Vision for the 1,001 Critical Days, is that every parent and carer has access to high quality infant feeding services. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, we are investing £50 million to enable 75 participating local authorities to design and deliver a blended offer of infant feeding support. The investment is being used to increase the range of advice and support available, including recruiting and training staff to improve workforce capacity and capability.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. The Government is backing the plan with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places.