Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to deliver family hubs in every area of the country.

The government is investing around £300 million through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme to enable 75 local authorities to create family hubs, and to improve vital services to give every baby the best start in life.

The local authorities taking part in the programme were selected by targeting areas with the highest levels of deprivation. An additional £28 million has also been made available to these local authorities to improve early language development, by supporting parents to help their children learn at home. This builds on the government’s previous investment to champion family hubs, including a £12 million transformation fund which will open family hubs in a further 13 local authorities in England.

This investment in family hubs is significant. It will have a wide reach across the country, improving outcomes for thousands of babies, children, and families.

The department’s ambition is to see family hubs open across the country. However, it is crucial that the department focuses on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently funding. The department will continue to build the model and evidence base, whilst working with the National Centre for Family Hubs to champion and spread good practice for all local authorities. The evidence and learning from this investment will help to improve services across England where they are most needed and help to build the evidence based for future investment decisions.