Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has for Family Hubs after the 2025-26 financial year; and whether her Department plans to provide a multi-year pledge to fund the Family Hubs and Start for Life program beyond this period.

The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give every child the best start in life. Progress on this commitment will be measured by assessing whether 75% of five-year-olds are reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment, which looks at children’s development across areas such as language, personal, social and emotional development, and mathematics and literacy, by 2028.

Delivering this will require strengthening and co-ordinating family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood. This includes continuing to invest in and build up Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes.

75 local authorities with some of the highest levels of deprivation have received funding and there are now more than 400 Family Hubs open across those local authorities. The department is investing a further £126 million in the 2025/26 financial year to give every child the best start in life and deliver on the Plan for Change. Future funding decisions are subject to the multi-year spending review.