Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pregnant women, new mothers, and children under four have applied to the Healthy Start scheme in each year since that scheme started.

The specific information requested is not available as the Healthy Start Issuing Unit records numbers of applications, rather than numbers of individuals claiming, and an individual or family can make more than one claim for Healthy Start within a year.

The following table outlines the number of applications received each year since the scheme was started and is made up of the number of claims/applications per year.

The Healthy Start Scheme initially started in Devon and Cornwall and was rolled out United Kingdom-wide in November 2006.