Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which areas will benefit from the transformation of Start for Life and family help services in half of the local authority areas across England; and whether the Government plans for that commitment to be rolled out across all local authorities.

The autumn Budget announced £300 million to transform Start for Life and family help services by creating a network of ‘family hubs’, in addition to investing in tailored breastfeeding services and infant and parent mental health.

Half of all upper tier local authorities in England will benefit from this investment, ensuring that thousands of families will see an improvement in the quality and accessibility of the services they receive. Whilst this funding will benefit 75 authorities, the evidence and learning from this investment will improve services across England where they are most needed.

The Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Education will work together to determine the best approach for selecting which local authorities will receive this funding. We will set out further details in due course.