Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government to which named funds the £500 million of families and early years funding will be directed.

Supporting families and children across the country to get the best start in life is a crucial part of the government’s ambition to level up. The £500 million announced at the Autumn 2021 Budget includes:

• £300 million to transform ‘Start for Life’ services and create a network of family hubs in half of the council areas across England. This package of support will provide funding for the creation of a network of family hubs (£82 million), infant and perinatal mental health support (£100 million), breastfeeding support (£50 million), and parenting programmes (£50 million) in 75 areas. It will also provide the 75 local authorities with funding to co-design their Start for Life offer with parents and carers and publish it in an accessible format (£10 million). Trials of innovative workforce models for health visitors will also be funded in a smaller number of council areas to test approaches to improve the support available to new parents.
• a £200 million uplift to the existing Supporting Families Programme to enable local authorities and their partners to provide help earlier and secure better outcomes for up to an additional 300,000 families across all aspects of their lives.