Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Department has assessed the potential merits of extending Healthy Start eligibility to include working parents in receipt of Statutory Paternity Pay.

The Healthy Start Scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. The Department has not undertaken a specific assessment of extending Healthy Start eligibility to include working parents in receipt of Statutory Paternity Pay. This is because Statutory Paternity Pay is not a means tested benefit and is available to individuals in work, including those on higher incomes.