Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential merits of evidence-based parenting programmes as part of the Plan for Change.

Giving children the best start in life is the foundation of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. That is why we have set the milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn in the classroom. Developmental areas include language, mathematics and literacy, and personal, social and emotional development. Accessible and integrated baby and early childhood services are required to build the foundations for future success in meeting these development goals.

The Department for Education and the Department for Health and Social Care are delivering critical elements of the government’s Plan for Change. This includes the announcement of £126 million of funding to continue delivery of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, a joint programme between both departments. This investment included:

• £36.5 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support.
• £10.7 million to help parents create rich home learning environments to support early childhood development.
• £20 million to enhance parenting support for expectant parents and those with babies aged 0 to 2.

All types of evidence-based parenting programmes are being considered, including in-person and digital. This is because of the importance of parent-child relationships during this critical period of development. 75 of the most disadvantaged local authorities in England currently receive funding from the department to deliver support to parents as part of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. Evidence shows that high-quality parenting programmes alongside wider integrated support for parents can improve child and parent outcomes across different areas of development.

These 75 local authorities are expected to provide evidence-based interventions to parents. Evidence-based interventions are a key approach to improving consistency and quality of parenting support services. They include increasing practitioners’ knowledge of scientifically proven theories of change and providing them with effective methods for engaging vulnerable families – including those experiencing poverty. This allows local authorities to reach the most disadvantaged families through universal and targeted support, and to address early challenges during this critical period of development.

Local authorities must use the Early Intervention Foundation guidebook, or similar, to select programmes that are strongly evidence-based and best suit their local needs and circumstances. Evidence-based programmes included in the guidebook include Triple P and Incredible Years. From the rigorous assessment that is required for programmes to be included in the guidebook, we know that these programmes have a demonstrated impact on outcomes. These include language and mathematics skills, as well as personal, social and emotional development outcomes, like self-regulation and building relationships, all of which are critical to meeting the milestone for good levels of development by 2028.

Over the next spending review period, the department will continue to work with local authorities, its voluntary community sector partners and other ‘what works’ bodies. This enables us to test and learn the best ways to provide parents with support and access to evidence-based parenting programmes.