Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is in place to support local authorities with Best Start Family Hubs to ensure their offer is effective and evidence-based.

Through the delivery grant, all local authorities will receive funding from the department for developing and implementing Best Start local plans. This includes funding for a Best Start in Life system leadership function to take forward transformation activity locally, connecting and integrating local partners to respond to local needs.

Further detail on this was shared with local authorities via funding allocation letters on 7 November, covering the three financial years 2026-29. Evidence based intervention (EBI) menus have also been developed and shared to support local authorities in selecting programmes that are both impactful and feasible to deliver starting from April 2026.

Local authorities will be supported to embed and enhance their family hubs models, be ambitious in their approach, and integrate EBIs. The National Centre for Family Hubs, which is a delivery support provider is also working closely with local authorities to help them to identify the right EBIs suited to their population needs.