Giving Every Baby the Best Start in Life

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 9th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

I want to pick up where the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) left off and thank all the organisations in our constituencies that provide such vital support to families in their time of need. I have Home-Start in my constituency too, and it does a fantastic job. I also thank the Backbench Business Committee for giving us this debate, as well as all those who have contributed so valuably to it. I particularly thank the right hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom) for the work she has done on early years and the first 1,001 critical days. We see by its inclusion in the Budget that her work has been recognised by the Government. I would like that money to go further, as I am sure would many hon. Members, but it is certainly a good first step.

Some might consider it slightly odd that the Scottish National party Treasury spokesperson is winding-up this Backbench Business debate, but there is an economic imperative to the debate. The Women’s Budget Group estimates that 1.7 million women are prevented from taking on extra hours as a result of lack of childcare, which leads to a £28.2 billion loss in economic output. Those on the Treasury Bench should consider that when they think about childcare. It is not a burden in any way; it is an investment and should be considered as such. The Nordic countries have much better outcomes and more equal societies, and they invest much more in their early years.

The hon. Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones) said that Wales is the best place in the world to grow up. I dispute that—certainly Scotland is up there as well, and we are doing a great deal on that front. The Scottish Government baby box is emblematic of that investment. A box is given to every new family, regardless of their circumstances, and it provides them with all the essentials they need. The feedback on that is overwhelmingly good, and around 186,000 baby boxes will have been delivered to families by its fourth anniversary. All families will have benefited from that, with all babies entering the world with a degree of equality, even when other things are not equal, as we know.

I was glad—well, I suppose I was not glad—to hear the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) speaking about the impact of poverty on young people; I feel that not everybody has reflected on that crucial part of the debate. Significant inequality is growing in the UK. Such things do not happen by accident; they happen as a result of specific policies designed by the Government and inflicted on the people of these islands. Let us take, for example, the two-child limit for tax credit and the rape clause that is part of that. By 2 April 2021, 308,520 families had been affected by that policy, and more will be affected as it rolls out. It discriminates against children in a family, based solely on the order in which they are born. Those children cannot help when they are born. They are brought into families, many of whom have babies because they think having a child is a blessing, but they may end up in financial circumstances that mean they find it much more difficult to get by. That is a real barrier to many families, and it is causing severe poverty across the UK. The UK Government should scrap that policy once and for all.

Hon. Members have referred to the £20 uplift in universal credit, which has been a lifeline for many families throughout the pandemic. By not keeping that uplift, and by reducing the taper on universal credit—something I welcome—the UK Government have divided households into the worthy and the unworthy. The taper rate affects those who are in work. I am glad for them and it is right, but the Government are only fixing the harm that their predecessors caused by adjusting the taper rate, and there is no help for those who are out of work, many of whom have caring responsibilities, illness or disability. There is nothing whatsoever for those on legacy benefits whose children also need that help. All of this is at a time when costs in shops are increasing and fuel prices skyrocketing. What impact will that have on children in those homes in the cold winter that is coming? What impact does the lack of fresh food and a warm home have on the lives of the babies we are talking about?

Sir Harry Burns, the former Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, has spoken poignantly about the lack of a sense of control, and the impact that that has on people’s lives. The hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) talked about a household he visited, and many more households like that now exist after the past 10 years. Many families have a lack of control over their lives, because they do not have the financial resources to build a safe environment for them and their children. That lack of control, certainty, or of knowing what will happen when an unexpected bill or illness could bring everything down around your ears, is no way to give babies the best start in life, and neither is it to have families reliant on foodbanks and charities. That only adds to the trauma mentioned by the hon. Members for Bath (Wera Hobhouse), for Newcastle upon Tyne North, and for Strangford (Jim Shannon). These families are growing up in trauma because they do not know how to cope. They do not have enough money to make ends meet, and living in such circumstances day after day means trauma for those parents, and trauma for those children. The Government should recognise that when they talk about recognising trauma, and consider how they can lessen it.

I want to talk briefly about the impact on ethnic minority families. There is a significant cost to them that is not often recognised, and that is the cost of the immigration system. Many families that come to me are finding life more and more of a struggle because they have to pay for visas, which are extremely expensive and a huge family cost burden. I cannot imagine how those families in relatively low-paid work make ends meet. They often cannot get the family support that the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates) so valued having around; they cannot get their mother-in-law, their mother or their sister over to give that support with their babies because they are not allowed visas. I have seen many families really upset by their inability to have a family member there at that most important time in life—and worse, I have seen families where there has been a baby loss and all that mum wanted was to have her mother there, but the Home Office said no. We need to recognise the wider implications of family support in all Departments.

I also want to talk about the impact of no recourse to public funds. There is a lack of data about how many constituents in Glasgow Central are affected by no recourse to public funds, but that immigration condition on benefits means that many families are not entitled to the same support as their neighbours, and they find it harder to make ends meet. I have had families come back for support for school uniforms and for presents for Christmas. They are working very hard, but not hard enough, because they cannot earn enough money. That will only get worse under the Nationality and Borders Bill.

I would be doing the all-party parliamentary group on infant feeding and inequalities a disservice if I did not talk about breastfeeding. Breastfeeding rates in Scotland are really improving, because we have a comprehensive plan to improve them. Almost two thirds of babies born in Scotland last year were breastfed for at least some time after their birth. More than half of babies were being breastfed at 10 to 14 days of age, which has increased from 44% in 2002-03. There are increases across the board. There has always been a marked gap in deprivation rates, with more deprived communities tending to breastfeed less. With the investment and comprehensive planning that the Scottish Government have put into breastfeeding support, that gap is beginning to narrow in Scotland, which is very positive.

I have two brief questions for the Minister on that. The “Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly” report was published in Scotland in 2019, but it has not yet been published in England. When is that going to happen, and when will the infant feeding survey be reinstated and published? We cannot track that data.

There is a great deal more that I would like to have said in this debate, but I urge the UK Government to look to Scotland and the comprehensive plans that are being put in place there, and to improve services for everybody who requires them.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alison Thewliss]

Will the Minister give way?

[Maggie Throup]

I am short of time, so I will continue.

Some 300,000 of the most vulnerable families will be supported with an extra £200 million boost to the Government’s supporting families programme, which helps families through complex issues that could lead to family breakdown. In addition to the £500 million investment to transform support for families, the Government will provide more than £2 million per year to continue the holiday activities and food programme, providing healthy food and enriched activities for disadvantaged children in England and delivering our flexible childcare fund commitments.

Before I draw my remarks to a close, I would like to address some issues that have been raised this afternoon. The hon. Member for Richmond Park raised the issue of health visitors. As I have outlined, £10 million has been allocated to trial and evaluate new workforce models. The specific number of health visitors and case- loads is a locally determined decision based on local health needs, so the number and ratio of health visitors support staff will vary. She also raised perinatal mental health, which has been recognised in the spending review with £100 million allocated to rolling out bespoke parent-infant mental health support.

My right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire rightly stated that babies’ needs should always be at the heart of our work. She also highlighted some new ways of working that have developed as a result of the pandemic, from Camden’s Bump to Baby programme to Parent Talk, and the benefits that physical and virtual support can offer in reaching out to even more families.

My hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates) said that we are building back better for babies. She was quite right. I welcome her support for family hubs and her recognition that they will provide support and services from conception to the age of 19 and to parents and carers.

The hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North also asked about family hubs. In the Budget, as I said, the Government announced a further £82 million to create a network of family hubs. Each of the 75 selected local authorities will receive transformational funding to support the change process of moving to a family hub model.

My hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) brought a great deal of experience to the debate, as did the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) and my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds). The hon. Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones) raised the important issue of breastfeeding. I am delighted that the Chancellor has announced £50 million to establish multi-component breastfeeding support services in line with local needs.