Toilet-training: Support for Parents

Lord Bishop of Chester Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

My noble friend raises the rollout of Best Start family hubs. We are investing £500 million in this rollout and have committed to every local authority area having a hub, delivering over 1,000 hubs by 2028 and reaching an estimated 500,000 additional children. I do not know the specifics of the particular areas, but I am sure that we will get back to my noble friend.

[The Lord Bishop of Chester]

My Lords, can the Minister comment on the way in which these hubs will relate to voluntary groups? I warmly welcome the Question, which seems important, and the introduction of the hubs, but in an age when parenting can get increasingly lonely, the many voluntary groups that provide community are essential, if it takes a village to raise a child.