Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how is she supporting (a) babies growing up in poverty and (b) ensuring that early inequalities are addressed.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. We will fund Best Start Family Hubs (BSFH) in every local authority to ensure all children and families who need support the most can access it. Backed by over £500 million, the rollout will deliver up to 1,000 BSFH nationwide by the end of 2028, reaching an estimated additional 500,000 children.
These Hubs will be key to our vision for joined-up services in the community, bringing together professionals from health and education, and will work with nurseries, childminders, schools, health services, libraries and local voluntary and community groups.
BSFH will be open to all families, but we know they are particularly important for families who are disadvantaged or have additional needs or vulnerabilities. That is why we have set an ambition that 70% of Hubs should be in the 30% most deprived areas nationally. It is for the local authority to decide where a Hub should be located to best meet the needs of the area.
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. Our landmark Child Poverty Strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030. The department will prioritise funding the continuation of existing Healthy Babies (formerly Start for Life) services that support babies to have the healthiest start in life, including perinatal mental health, parent infant relationships and infant feeding.
In addition, we raised the early years pupil premium by 45% in April 2025 to support improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children and break the cycle of poverty.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is his Department taking to address (a) regional and (b) socioeconomic inequality in (i) maternal and (ii) perinatal outcomes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 23 June 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a rapid, national, independent Investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal services to understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies, and families experience unacceptable care. The investigation will aim to identify the drivers and impacts of the inequalities faced by women, babies, and families from black and Asian backgrounds, those from deprived groups, and those from other marginalised groups when receiving maternity and neonatal care. The investigation will deliver interim recommendations in December 2025, ahead of further findings in spring 2026.
A number of interventions specifically aimed at addressing maternal and neonatal inequalities are underway. These include the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme, delivery of an inequalities dashboard and projects on removing racial bias from clinical education, and embedding genetic risk equity. Additionally, all local areas have published Equity and Equality action plans to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities as well as those living in the most deprived areas.
To tackle the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, we are introducing a Maternal Care Bundle to set clear standards across all services, focused on the main causes of maternal death and harm. Women from black and Asian backgrounds are more at risk of specific clinical conditions that are the leading causes of death. This bundle will target these conditions, and we expect a decline in deaths and harm.
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme also supports the reduction of health inequalities by providing universal support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, and parent-infant relationships from conception to two years old. Building on the £126 million investment for 2025/26, a further £500 million will enable Best Start Family Hubs to be rolled out to every local authority from April 2026.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to racial disparities in maternity care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 23 June 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a rapid, national, independent Investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal services to understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies, and families experience unacceptable care. The investigation will aim to identify the drivers and impacts of the inequalities faced by women, babies, and families from black and Asian backgrounds, those from deprived groups, and those from other marginalised groups when receiving maternity and neonatal care. The investigation will deliver interim recommendations in December 2025, ahead of further findings in spring 2026.
A number of interventions specifically aimed at addressing maternal and neonatal inequalities are underway. These include the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme, delivery of an inequalities dashboard and projects on removing racial bias from clinical education, and embedding genetic risk equity. Additionally, all local areas have published Equity and Equality action plans to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities as well as those living in the most deprived areas.
To tackle the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, we are introducing a Maternal Care Bundle to set clear standards across all services, focused on the main causes of maternal death and harm. Women from black and Asian backgrounds are more at risk of specific clinical conditions that are the leading causes of death. This bundle will target these conditions, and we expect a decline in deaths and harm.
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme also supports the reduction of health inequalities by providing universal support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, and parent-infant relationships from conception to two years old. Building on the £126 million investment for 2025/26, a further £500 million will enable Best Start Family Hubs to be rolled out to every local authority from April 2026.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to work with relevant authorities to support new parents in (a) Romford constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In London, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), within the Department, and NHS England’s London regional teams work together to champion and embed a focus on giving every child the best start in life, providing support to National Health Service organisations, local government, and wider partners to deliver joined up services for babies and families. This includes focused work on infant feeding, perinatal mental health, addressing inequalities in maternity care and outcomes, and developing the health visiting workforce in London.
In Havering, the local authority has developed an online family services hub to help new parents in Romford find and access locally available services and support, and an online gateway for early years health and other professionals to access, enabling them to better advise, support, and refer new parents into the local offer.
A £126 million funding boost in 2025/26 will help set up every child for the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services and improving support through pregnancy and early childhood. This will fund a network of family hubs with Start for Life services, which support the period from conception to the age of two years old, in 75 local authorities in England with high levels of deprivation.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to promote breastfeeding.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Public Health England (PHE) is committed to improving breastfeeding rates across England and has identified breastfeeding as a key priority within our maternity and child health programmes.
PHE works nationally to support local authorities (LAs) to improve breastfeeding rates. PHE, in partnership with the United Nations International Childrens’ Emergency Fund (UNICEF), published an infant feeding commissioning toolkit to support the commissioning of interventions to improve breastfeeding rates, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infant-feeding-commissioning-services
LAs and their partners are encouraged to provide a comprehensive universal service with access to specialist support when needed. The PHE breastfeeding fingertips profiles allow local areas to see performance against a range of indicators supporting them to plan and review services and local population needs. More information is available at the following link:
PHE supports action to improve breastfeeding rates through evidence to provide guidance to professionals, and address health inequalities. The guidance includes six high impact areas for early years aimed at health visitors includes promotion of breastfeeding and is available at the following link:
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to use health visitors to reduce health inequalities by (a) increasing the amount and time duration of breast feeding and (b) extending early educational intervention.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Local authorities have a duty to improve the health of their populations through the use of the public health grant. Public Health England (PHE) supports this through evidence to address health inequalities and guidance to professionals.
The six High Impact Areas for Early Years focus on key areas where health visitors have a significant impact on health and wellbeing and improving outcomes for children, families and communities. The guidance includes promotion of breastfeeding and health, wellbeing and development of the child aged two. Further information on the Six High Impact Areas is available to view here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commissioning-of-public-health-services-for-children
PHE works with local services to create breastfeeding friendly communities, with midwives and health visitors to promote best practice, and, through our Start4Life social marketing programme, to provide parents with trusted National Health Service advice.
PHE has developed an infant feeding commissioning resource in partnership with Unicef to support local authorities in the delivery of a comprehensive approach to the commissioning of services that protect, promote and support breastfeeding. PHE also shares innovative approaches for supporting breastfeeding.