Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether their Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies programme will recommend the adoption of holistic family centre frameworks, such as Ei Smart, as part of efforts to support babies and families with the transition from neonatal units to family hubs.

In March 2026, we published Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies guidance, setting out a series of expectations to enable local authorities to design their support offer for families tailored to local need. While the guidance is not prescriptive about what provision local authorities should introduce, it sets expectations that targeted support should be provided for families facing health inequalities, including those who have required neonatal care.

Some local authorities are already using programme funding to focus on families with babies who have had a period in neonatal care. For example, in Lincolnshire the Family and Baby project has been introduced which operates from neonatal units and provides early, relationship-based support to improve attachment, infant development, and parental wellbeing.