Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Family Nurse Partnership to include more than the existing 44 local authorities.

The Family Nurse Partnership Programme (FNP) is the Department’s current service for the most vulnerable first-time parents, for example, teenagers, care leavers, those known to the care system, or those who would otherwise have extremely poor clinical outcomes, affecting both themselves and their children. The FNP has been shown to improve vulnerable children’s development, school readiness and early educational attainment.

Provision of the FNP is currently a choice for local authorities. The programme is currently available in 45 local authorities. Local authorities have a statutory duty for commissioning public health services for children and young people aged between zero and 19 years old. The Public Health Grant, from which various programmes for children and young people are funded, including FNP, has been uplifted for 2025/26 by 5.4%, a percentage equalling almost £200 million.