Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the First 1001 Movement and the Institute of Health Visiting entitled Casting Long Shadows, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of that report's finding that a higher number of babies and young children born or growing up during the covid-19 outbreak had delayed social skills and were at risk of harm or affected by parental mental health.

In order to address the impact of poor parental health on early child development, we are investing £301.75 million in the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in England. This includes £100 million for perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationships and commissioning guidance for the Healthy Child Programme led by health visitors. Guidance recommends that local service commissioners use multi-agency risk assessment and the consideration of vulnerabilities to inform recovery planning from COVID-19.