Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the potential merits of introducing an automatic registration process for the Healthy Start scheme.

The Department has not considered the potential merits of introducing an automatic registration process for the Healthy Start scheme.

The NHS Business Services Authority operates the Healthy Start scheme which has recently transitioned from paper vouchers to a prepaid card. All applicants to the scheme, where they meet the eligibility criteria set out in the legislation, must accept the terms and conditions of the prepaid card at the point of application. As the prepaid card is a financial product and cannot be issued without the applicant accepting these terms, the NHS Business Services Authority cannot automatically provide eligible families with a prepaid card.