Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which health inequalities experienced in early childhood contribute to long-term disparities in physical and mental health outcomes.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. We know that a child’s early experiences shape their lifelong physical, emotional, and social development. Inequalities, such as poverty, can have a long-lasting impact on children’s health. For example, childhood obesity is strongly linked to deprivation and an increased risk of obesity in later life. Research suggests that any exposure to poverty during childhood is associated with worse physical and mental health in adolescence.

The 10-Year Health Plan, Child Poverty Strategy, and Best Start in Life Strategy all set out the action we are taking to raise the healthiest generation of children ever and reduce long-term health inequalities. This includes our supervised toothbrushing programme for three-to-five-year-olds in deprived areas, increasing the weekly value of Healthy Start by 10%, and over £500 million to roll out Best Start Family Hubs to every local authority.

We are committed to strengthening the evidence on children’s health and its lifelong impacts. We have commissioned research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research to deepen our understanding of early-years risk factors and inequalities, which is due to report in 2027/28.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of public health funding in reducing rates of preventable illnesses in disadvantaged communities.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Public Health Grant supports local authorities to deliver vital public health services that focus on reducing preventable illnesses through services such as smoking cessation, drug and alcohol addiction treatment and recovery, health visiting, and sexual health clinics. Public Health Grant allocations are weighted heavily towards deprivation, with per capita funding for the most deprived local authority more than two times greater than that for the least deprived.

More than £13.4 billion will be consolidated into the Public Health Grant to local authorities, and a retained business rates arrangement with Greater Manchester local authorities, over the next three years beginning in 2026/27. This is a 5.6% total cash increase over the period, on top of 5.5% cash growth in 2025/26.

The National Health Service also funds important public health services, including national screening and immunisation programmes. In doing so, NHS England has regard to the need to reduce inequalities both in access to services and in health outcomes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of digital exclusion on access to healthcare services, including booking appointments and accessing remote consultations.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

National Health Service organisations must ensure that all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate.

This means that although we promote digital first services to those who choose to use them, a non-digital solution should be available for those patients who cannot or do not wish to engage digitally to ensure continued, equitable access to care.

These non-digital routes must be available for all services provided by NHS organisations.

We are working to improve access to digital services, outcomes, and experiences for the widest range of people, based on their preferences. Digital health tools should be part of a wider offering that includes face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have undertaken of the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and the prevalence of mental health conditions, particularly among children and young people.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Research recently completed and funded by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre has found that socioeconomic inequalities in children’s mental health are evident by age five and persist throughout childhood and adolescence. Further information is available at the following link:

https://oxfordhealthbrc.nihr.ac.uk/study-finds-socioeconomic-inequalities-in-childrens-mental-health-are-evident-by-age-five/

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current arrangements for funded early years childcare; whether they regard the level of that funding to be sufficient to ensure an affordable and sustainable supply of places for single parents; and how those funding levels take account of the additional reliance single parents may have on formal childcare if they are to remain in work.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023-24, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.

This government continues to prioritise and protect investment in the early years, which is why we are investing over £1 billion more in the early years entitlements next year compared to 2025/26 to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements, and an above inflation increase to entitlements funding rates.

The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. We have regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.

Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between any reduction in the provision of childcare and employment outcomes for single parents; and whether areas experiencing a reduction in childcare provision have seen any corresponding changes in single-parent labour market participation.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government-funded childcare for all working parents.

We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life. The first phase of the programme is creating up to 6,000 new nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 having been made available from September 2025.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any geographical disparities in the availability of funded childcare places; and what steps they are taking to target support towards single parents living in areas where a lack of provision restricts the ability to enter or progress in employment.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government-funded childcare for all working parents.

We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life. The first phase of the programme is creating up to 6,000 new nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 having been made available from September 2025.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to identify any additional charges associated with accessing funded childcare; and what steps they are taking to ensure that single parents are not deterred from taking up entitlements for cost reasons.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department has surveyed providers offering entitlements places and the parents accessing them to understand how the entitlements are being delivered to parents. This includes the use of additional extras and charges associated with entitlement hours.

Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high quality, flexible childcare. The 15 or 30 hours must be able to be accessed free of charge to parents. There must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the free hours. Government funding is not intended to cover the cost of meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services.

A High Court judgment reaffirmed this position and the department subsequently updated its statutory guidance for local authorities last year on the entitlements to provide clarity on the matter for local authorities, providers and parents.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve recruitment and retention in the early years’ workforce; and what assessment they have made of any contribution that stable staffing makes to reliable and consistent childcare for single parents.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Best Start in Life Strategy lays the foundation for long-term improvements to recruitment and retention in the early years sector. Initiatives to improve recruitment and retention include the ‘Do something BIG’ recruitment campaign, financial incentives, a new Early Years teacher degree apprenticeship, an assessment-only route for experienced staff to achieve a Level 3 qualification, and operational flexibilities for childminders, including a grant to help with start-up costs.

The department does not hold data on the impact of stable staffing on reliable and consistent childcare for single parents. However, we want all children, regardless of background, to be able to access high quality early education and childcare. The workforce has grown by 18,200 staff to deliver the expanded childcare entitlement and we are committed to increasing the take up of the 15 hour entitlements to ensure that disadvantaged children are benefitting from early education and improved outcomes.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold any evidence on the reasons why eligible single parents may find it hard to access funded childcare entitlements; if so, whether they will publish it; and what steps they are taking to reduce barriers to such access.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department does not hold evidence on the reasons why eligible single parents may find it hard to access funded childcare entitlements. However, take-up of entitlements continues to be monitored.

We continue to look across the early education and childcare support provided by different parts of government to identify ways to make it simpler for providers and parents, improve access and increase the overall impact of government spending on children and families.

Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the long-term consequences of the benefit cap on the life chances of children, including future employment prospects, health inequalities and intergenerational poverty.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government recognises that growing up in a working household helps to tackle the long-term impacts of poverty on a child’s future health, employment, and life chances. The benefit cap aims to incentivise work and exemptions to the cap are in place for households in work earning at least £846 each month, rising to £881 each month from April 2026.

The Child Poverty Strategy kickstarts action and ambition over the next ten years to respond to the current crisis of child poverty now while delivering longer term change to fundamentally fix the structural drivers of child poverty.

The Government is investing in the future of our children and is removing the two child limit in Universal Credit in April 2026. This will lift 450,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this parliament and is the most cost-effective and quickest way of reducing child poverty and the impacts that child poverty can bring.

In addition, the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 places a duty on the Secretary of State to report annually on the life chances of children in non-working households and educational attainment as two main factors leading to child poverty. These were last released on 27 March: “Workless households and educational attainment statutory indicators 2025 - GOV.UK”

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the benefit cap on demand for local authority hardship support, including discretionary housing payments, and how this affects the ability of councils to support children who are in need.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In the financial year 2024/25, 9% of Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) expenditure was recorded by Local Authorities in England and Wales as related to the Benefit Cap (9%) and 7% of expenditure being used on a combination of welfare reforms (including the Benefit Cap, Local Housing Allowance and Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy). This is taken from the DWP publication “Use of Discretionary Housing Payments: analysis of end-of-year returns from local authorities, data for April 2024 to March 2025”.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have conducted an equality analysis on the impact of the benefit cap on children in households with protected characteristics, including lone parent families and families from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

As part of the Department’s compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty, assessments of the impacts of the benefit cap policy on protected characteristics of people in capped households are undertaken to support with legislative changes.

The government is committed to monitoring the impacts of the benefit cap and publishes quarterly statistics on the number of households capped. The most recent statistics were published in December 2025 for the quarter to August 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their childcare support policy on child poverty in single-parent households; and what consideration they have given to reforming childcare support to reflect the financial constraints faced by families with one member in paid employment.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Poverty scars the lives and life chances of our children. 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.

The Child Poverty Strategy sets out the steps we are taking to reduce child poverty in the short term, as well as putting in place the building blocks we need to change the course we’re on and create long-term change.

The Government is investing in the future of our children by removing the two child limit on Universal Credit, reinstating support for all children in the household. This comes alongside a package of measures that will drive down working poverty by raising the minimum wage, creating more secure jobs by strengthening rights at work, and expanding free childcare.

We recognise that access to high quality, affordable childcare is essential for parents to be able to work. We will increase Universal Credit childcare support to help parents in work, with eligible parents receiving up to £737.06 in UC childcare support for each additional child beyond the first. We will also streamline the process for getting support with upfront childcare costs.

Changes to the childcare cost caps will occur during the 2026-27 financial year, subject to the laying of the relevant legislation and alterations to the UC service.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any relationship between the benefit cap and demand for statutory children's services, including child protection referrals and family support interventions.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made by my department.

Our Best Start in Life Strategy, published in July 2025, sets out how we will expand and strengthen family service and improve the accessibility, affordability and quality of early years education and school-aged childcare in England.

From September 2025, 30 hours of Government-funded childcare is now available to eligible working parents of children from nine months old, enabling thousands more children to start school ready to learn (and giving parents greater freedom over jobs and working hours).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the benefit cap on (1) access to early years provision for children, (2) school readiness, and (3) early developmental outcomes.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made by my department.

Our Best Start in Life Strategy, published in July 2025, sets out how we will expand and strengthen family service and improve the accessibility, affordability and quality of early years education and school-aged childcare in England.

From September 2025, 30 hours of Government-funded childcare is now available to eligible working parents of children from nine months old, enabling thousands more children to start school ready to learn (and giving parents greater freedom over jobs and working hours).

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether children living in households affected by the benefit cap experience (1) higher levels of school absenteeism, (2) reduced educational attainment, and (3) disrupted schooling.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department recognises the impact of disadvantage on children’s outcomes. The disadvantage gap in attainment at both primary and secondary remains high and persistent. We also know that children eligible for free school meals (FSM) have substantially higher absence rates.

Every child and young person should have the opportunity to achieve and thrive at school, no matter who they are or where they are from, and schools receive the pupil premium grant, worth over £3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils.

Our Child Poverty Strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030, including through the expansion of FSM, which will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament and put £500 back in families’ pockets. Providing disadvantaged children with a free lunchtime meal will lead overall to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how the interests of children are assessed in the design and ongoing operation of the benefit cap; and what mechanisms exist to ensure that the welfare of children is considered when policy is being decided.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The benefit cap aims to incentivise work as, where possible, it is in the best interest of children to be in working households. Living in a working family has a positive impact on children’s educational attainment, mental health, and long-term aspirations. The Government is driving forward labour market interventions that will deliver a step-change in support and help parents to enter and progress in work.

The Government is committed to monitoring the impacts of the benefit cap and publishes quarterly statistics on the number of households capped. The most recent statistics were published in December 2025 for the quarter to August 2025.

The Government continues to review research from and engages with a range of organisations representing children and families, to ensure the social security system provides the support people need.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have undertaken of the distribution of healthcare professionals across regions; and how workforce planning reflects areas of greatest health needs.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are a range of sources that present data detailing how staff working in National Health Service roles are distributed across England. These published sources include, but are not limited to, information on the trust and region of staff employed by NHS trusts and integrated care boards, information on vacancies in the NHS, and information on general medical practice staff. This information is available on the NHS.UK website.

The forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out further detail on how we will ensure the NHS has the right staff, in the right places, to deliver high quality care for patients when they need it.

Workforce planning for medical staff already means that Medical Foundation and Specialty training posts are allocated across the United Kingdom to support workforce needs, including in rural and hard to recruit areas. While some locations have historically found recruitment more challenging, we now have fewer vacancies in the Foundation Programme. NHS England is working with a number of medical schools to pilot the allocation of students directly to their local foundation schools.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to reduce regional differences in life expectancy; and what steps they are taking to account for housing, employment and environmental factors in health policy.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to increasing the amount of time people spend in good health and to preventing premature deaths, with an ambitious commitment to halve the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions.

Our 10-Year Health Plan for England sets out a reimagined service designed to tackle inequalities in both access and outcomes, as well as to give everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, the means to engage with the health service on their own terms.

The 10-Year Health Plan and the Environmental Improvement Plan set out how the Government will take action to reduce exposure to harmful emissions of air pollutants. This includes action on domestic burning, on which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have recently launched a consultation.

The 10-Year Health Plan also sets out actions to address poor quality housing and improve the standard of rented homes, alongside £15 billion of investment announced in the Warm Homes Plan. £5 billion of this will be targeted at low-income and fuel poor households. This will help to make homes warmer, more comfortable, and more energy-efficient, which in turn will improve health and reduce health inequalities.

Further to this, the Government recognises that good-quality employment is an important determinant of good health. Sir Charlie Mayfield has submitted the Keep Britain Working review, which highlights how crucial it is to support people to stay healthy and in work.

In partnership with the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Work and Pensions, we are rapidly translating Sir Charlie’s key recommendations into action.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what indicators they use to measure progress in reducing health inequalities; and how those metrics inform policy and funding decisions.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is a priority for the Government to increase the amount of time people spend in good health and prevent premature deaths, with a vision of ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background or location, live longer, healthier lives.

We remain committed to reducing the gap in healthy life expectancy (HLE) between the richest and poorest, an ambitious commitment that shows the Government is serious about tackling health inequalities and addressing the social determinants of health. Indicators to monitor progress in health inequalities are measured in key data outcomes, such as the life expectancy estimates for England and sub-national areas, produced by the Office for National Statistics.

The Government bases decisions on a robust evidence base. For example, we know that the Carr-Hill formula is considered outdated, and evidence suggests that general practices (GPs) serving in deprived parts of England receive on average 9.8% less funding per needs adjusted patient than those in less deprived communities, despite having greater health needs and significantly higher patient-to-GP ratios. This is why we are currently reviewing the formula to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed.

We are targeting key metrics such as the HLE gap to enable cross-Government action on primary prevention such as regulation of tobacco, controlling air pollution, and tackling poverty. We also support NHS England’s CORE20PLUS5 approach which targets action to reduce health inequalities in the most deprived 20% of the population and improve outcomes for groups that experience the worst access, experience, and outcomes within the National Health Service.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the benefit cap on children's physical and mental health outcomes, including nutrition, stress and access to early intervention services.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The benefit cap aims to incentivise work as, where possible, it is in the best interest of children to be in working households. Living in a working family has a positive impact on children’s educational attainment, mental health, and long-term aspirations. The Government is driving forward labour market interventions that will deliver a step-change in support and help parents to enter and progress in work.

Alongside employment support, the department supports families in work through an exemption from the benefit cap for households earning at least £846 each month. There is also protection for the most vulnerable as those who are caring or are severely disabled are exempt from the benefit cap.

The Government is investing in the future of our children and introducing a fundamental change by removing the two child limit on Universal Credit and therefore reinstating support for all children. This comes alongside a package of measures that will drive down working poverty by raising the minimum wage, creating more secure jobs by strengthening rights at work, and expanding free childcare.

Furthermore, the Government is committed to rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority by April 2026 and creating up to 1,000 hubs across the country by the end of 2028. Family Hubs will offer universal, open access support for families and connect them to other local services such as healthcare, welfare, early education, and housing.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the existing exemptions from the benefit cap for households with disabled children, including whether those exemptions reflect the additional costs associated with disability.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government recognises that households with disabled children have additional costs and that is reflected in the support that is available for these families.

For example, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is available as a contribution to the extra costs associated with being disabled to those under the age of 16 who, due to a disability or health condition have mobility issues and/or care needs which are substantially in excess of a child the same age without the disability or health condition. Universal Credit also provides an additional amount for disabled children.

Households in receipt of disability and/or caring benefits, including child DLA, are exempt from the benefit cap. This reflects the impact a disability and/or caring responsibilities may have on a household's ability to work and earn enough to meet the benefit cap work exemption of at least £846 each month. Additionally, disability and caring benefits do not count towards the benefit cap.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government which minister will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the child poverty strategy across government and accountable for the progress of that strategy.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the Child Poverty Strategy across government lies with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Education.

Accountability for delivering constituent measures sits with the relevant Secretary of State.

Found: Rough Sleeping The Lord Bird MBE, Balbir Chatrik, Director of Policy and Prevention, Centrepoint, Dr