Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made in raising the number of health visitors available to new mothers and improving the universal service offer by 2015.

The most recent official figures* for March 2015 show there are 12,077 health visitors in post, this is an increase of 3,985 health visitors since May 2010. In addition, over 1,000 health visitors were in training at the end of March 2015, who, if they complete their training, will be eligible to practise between September 2015 and February 2016. This significant expansion means the workforce is well-placed to deliver the Health Visitor Programme’s four level model, including the universal offer to new parents.

*Published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre