The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)

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My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, for his thoughtful introduction of the Bill, and I pay tribute to him for his work not just on the welfare and well-being of children but on prison reform over many years. It is also a pleasure to see the right honourable Dame Andrea Leadsom on the steps of the Throne today.

I am grateful for the many contributions to this debate, and I have listened closely to them. This debate shows just how passionately your Lordships’ House feels about early childhood development, and I very much welcome that, because nothing says more about us as a nation than the health and well-being of our children —the noble Lords, Lord Evans and Lord Addington, were good enough to thoughtfully acknowledge that.

I assure your Lordships’ House that the Government absolutely recognise the importance of the earliest days of an infant’s life and that we are committed to raising the healthiest generation of children in our country’s history. In general answer to the noble Lord, Lord Evans, we will be going beyond simply the provisions of a Bill such as this, and I very much look forward to being able to update your Lordships’ House when I am able to do so.

However, as regards this Bill, I absolutely recognise the good intentions in the Bill, and I also want to acknowledge the importance of information and guidance which it shines a light on. However, as the noble Lords, Lord Farmer and Lord Evans, are aware, the Government have reservations about the detail in the Bill itself, which I explained in discussion to the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, when we met earlier this week. I was most grateful to him for his time but also for the manner of our discussion.

This Government need to do things differently from the last Government, and will indeed do so in order that we can improve the lives of all our children through our health and opportunities missions and by driving long-lasting and sustainable change for children, both now and in the future. We need the time and we need to be able to roll out our own cross-government package of support for infants, children and families, as noble Lords have today asked us to do. This needs to be comprehensive, rather than piecemeal. Unfortunately —and I do not like to disappoint the noble Lord, Lord Farmer—while the intent of the Bill is certainly to make a contribution in the right direction, it does not align with how this Government intend to deliver the comprehensive change that our children need, not least because we do not wish to limit ourselves in how we deliver on our commitment to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.

The need for change is compelling. England compares poorly with other nations on a range of child health outcomes, while children in the most deprived areas suffer far worse health outcomes than those in better-off areas, and we have an absolute duty to close that gap. The noble Lord, Lord Hannan, the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, and other noble Lords referred to the situation in regard to local authorities and the fiscal state in which they find themselves and how the Bill would manage any additional strain on them. I agree with noble Lords that we exist in a very challenging fiscal environment, which is exactly why we must consider our child health action plan in the round, ensuring it is sufficiently considered and funded. We are very conscious of introducing new burdens, no matter how small they might appear, given the reductions to local authority budgets and the constrained finances—a situation that has been the case for many years.

Over 4 million children are growing up in low-income households and, last year, a million children experienced destitution. This cannot go on. It not only harms children’s lives now but damages their future prospects and holds back our economic potential as a country. The noble Lord, Lord Bird, was very energetic on this point—and rightly so. I hope he will be pleased to know that we have set up a cross-government child poverty task force to develop an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, and its work is under way.

I was proud to serve in the Government who did not just pioneer Sure Start, to which my noble friend Lord Blunkett led the way, but brought in the indoor smoking ban in 2007. Through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we will continue the task of improving life chances for children. We will continue to tackle the harms of smoking, break the cycle of addiction, and pave the way for a smoke-free UK.

I know from the debate today that your Lordships’ House is well aware that this Government were elected on a mandate to deliver change. As the Prime Minister said just last week, this will not happen overnight. We will not cover up the problems; we will lay the foundations. We will do that ensure that we raise the healthiest generation of children ever through our work to tackle childhood obesity, improve mental health and ensure that children have good oral hygiene. I very much look forward to debating these important topics and others over the coming months.

To the points raised on alcohol and drugs by the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, it is right to acknowledge the growing problem of alcohol and drug use among parents and carers, which affects their capacity to parent well. The Government are absolutely committed to addressing that. This year, we will make over £300 million of additional investment in this regard. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Meston, for bringing the matter of the family drug and alcohol courts to my attention, and I would be very pleased to meet him to discuss it. Furthermore, I can assure the noble Lord that the Government are aware of the work of Pause, which indeed met officials at the Department for Education just this week. We will continue to work with Pause to ensure that a better system is built for all children and parents in future.

The noble Baroness, Lady Uddin, raised a crucial point about inequalities in maternity care. I thank her for her powerful contribution in this regard. She is right to describe the ongoing inequalities as truly shocking. I can assure her that I have already met officials and asked for urgent advice on immediate action to tackle inequalities for women and for babies, addressing racism in maternity services and determining what ambitions are needed and how we might get there. To the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, I am pleased to share that we will publish the infant feeding survey in summer 2025. To the right reverend Prelate, I want to acknowledge the contribution that not just churches but synagogues, mosques and other faith institutions make to supporting the well-being and development of children and infants.

In conclusion, while we are not supporting this Bill, I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, and to noble Lords who have taken such an interest today in how we might seek to raise the healthiest generation of children ever—which is, I believe, however noble Lords regard this Bill, exactly what we all want.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)

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My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, for bringing this Bill to the House and for meeting me to discuss it. I have no doubt whatever that he will continue to advocate for children’s health with his customary passion and dedication. I am also thankful to the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge, for enabling today’s debate.

This Government are committed to raising the healthiest generation of children in this nation’s history. However, as I expressed at Second Reading, while the intentions of the Bill are good, we need to be able to deliver a package of support for infants, children and families that is comprehensive rather than piecemeal. Through our mission-led approach, the Government will drive long-lasting and sustainable change for babies and children. As the Prime Minister has confirmed, in the coming weeks, we will publish clear ambitions for each mission, putting the health and well-being of our children at the heart of everything we do.

While we cannot support the Bill of the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, I can assure your Lordships’ House that we will continue to work tirelessly to improve the lives of babies and children right across the country.