Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the funding announced for parent and infant mental health in the Spending Review 2021 will be used to close the gaps in provision for children under two in children and young people’s mental health services.

Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education

We have announced a £500 million investment to support babies and families, £100 million of which will focus on enhancing parent-infant mental health support. This will help promote the social and emotional development of babies. the social and emotional development of babies. Local areas will decide where this additional support should be allocated, which could form part of children and young people’s mental health services or elsewhere within the early years system such as within family hubs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the funding announced for parent and infant mental health in the Spending Review 2021 will support the expansion of specialised parent-infant teams.

Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education

We are working with leading academics, clinicians, Health Education England and NHS England and NHS Improvement to determine how this funding should be invested to support existing services. Further details will be confirmed in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many local authorities will receive funding from the £300 million Start for Life fund announced in the Spending Review 2021.

Answered by Will Quince

The £300 million investment announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in half of council areas across England.

This package of support will provide funding for: the creation of a network of family hubs (£82 million), selected local authorities to co-design their Start for Life offer with parents and carers and publish it in an accessible format (£10 million), infant and perinatal mental health support (£100 million), breastfeeding support (£50 million) and parenting programmes (£50 million) in 75 areas. Trials of innovative workforce models for health visitors will also be funded in a smaller number of council areas to test approaches to improve the support available to new parents.

The Budget set out the 2024-25 financial year profile as follows: £18 million to create a network of family hubs to improve access to services for families; £20 million for parenting support; and £66 million for the Start for Life offer for families, including breastfeeding advice and parent-infant mental health support. The Budget is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-documents. Further information on funding profiles will be published in due course.

The Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will work together to deliver this. The Department for Education will oversee the family hubs and parenting programmes, with DHSC overseeing the other components of the package.

We will set out more detail in due course on how this funding will be allocated.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of the £300 million Start for Life funding announced in the Spending Review 2021 will be ringfenced when it reaches local authorities.

Answered by Will Quince

The £300 million investment announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in half of council areas across England.

This package of support will provide funding for: the creation of a network of family hubs (£82 million), selected local authorities to co-design their Start for Life offer with parents and carers and publish it in an accessible format (£10 million), infant and perinatal mental health support (£100 million), breastfeeding support (£50 million) and parenting programmes (£50 million) in 75 areas. Trials of innovative workforce models for health visitors will also be funded in a smaller number of council areas to test approaches to improve the support available to new parents.

The Budget set out the 2024-25 financial year profile as follows: £18 million to create a network of family hubs to improve access to services for families; £20 million for parenting support; and £66 million for the Start for Life offer for families, including breastfeeding advice and parent-infant mental health support. The Budget is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-documents. Further information on funding profiles will be published in due course.

The Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will work together to deliver this. The Department for Education will oversee the family hubs and parenting programmes, with DHSC overseeing the other components of the package.

We will set out more detail in due course on how this funding will be allocated.