Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Policy paper entitled The best start for life: a vision for the 1,001 critical days, what steps he is taking to help ensure that vulnerable parents are given the support they need to safely parent from the point of conception through to birth.

The Early Years Healthy Development Review’s report, published in March 2021, set out a vision for every local authority to provide an integrated universal Start for Life offer for every family which is targeted at the needs of their specific local communities, from disability to transport in rural areas, domestic abuse to drug and alcohol support. Every member of the Start for Life workforce should understand how to make a referral to children’s social services and high quality safeguarding support must be fully integrated into wider services.

We have announced a £500 million investment in Start for Life and family services at the recent Spending Review. This includes £82 million to create a network of family hubs in 75 local authorities, improving access to a wide range of integrated support services for families with children; £50 million for evidence-based parenting programmes; £100 million for bespoke mental health support for new and expectant parents to nurture the relationship between parent and child; and an additional £200 million for the Supporting Families programme.