WIREDGOV

Thousands of parents and children across England will be able to give their child the best start in life thanks to a £126 million government funding boost.

• £126 million boost for families to give every child the best start of life and deliver on Plan for Change.
• Funding will go to areas with high levels of deprivation to provide a range of support to parents, including on mental health and infant feeding.

Thousands of families and children across England will be able to access pregnancy support, infant feeding advice, parenting classes and other support to give their child the best start in life, following a £126 million government funding boost – delivering on the government’s Plan for Change.

Around £57 million will be made available to 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation in 2025-26. This will provide a raft of support through Start for Life services to families with babies, from pregnancy up to the age of two. The £57 million for Start for Life services will be given to local authorities and consists of:

• £36.5 million to improve mental health support for families and promote positive early relationships between babies and caregivers;
• £18.5 million to improve infant feeding services and provide support with breastfeeding;
• £2 million to ensure families can access and understand their local Start for Life services and support parents and carers to bring their valuable insight into service design.

It comes on top of the £69 million announced in the Budget for a network of family hubs, which act as a one-stop-shop for families to get help with infant feeding advice, parenting classes and perinatal mental health support, among other areas.

Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. Antenatal classes, health visitors, parenting support, baby and toddler groups and access to affordable, high-quality early education and childcare – all are vital to guiding parents and supporting child development. Yet over 80% of parents have said they struggled to access services.

This lack of support in early years can act as a barrier to development and contributes to too many children not being ready to start school, with over a third of children unable to dress independently and 90% of reception teachers saying they have at least one child in the class not toilet trained.

That’s why, as part of our Plan for Change, we’re committed to strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood and improve long term outcomes for children - including through today’s investment in family hubs and the Start for Life programme.

By delivering accessible, integrated maternity, baby and family support services, and high-quality early education and childcare, today’s announcement delivers on the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and set every child up for the best start in life.

To achieve the government’s overall mission objective of closing the opportunity gap, the government has set a milestone as part of the Plan for Change of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn. Progress will be measured through 75% of five-year-olds reaching a good level of development in the early years foundation stage assessment by 2028 – and today’s announcement marks a first step to delivering this milestone.

It also delivers on our mission to build an NHS fit for the future by shifting from hospital to community and bringing care closer to where people live. By offering parents extra support, including access to midwifery and health visitor services closer to their home, it will help tackle wider social causes of ill-health, address inequalities and ultimately help ease pressure on hospitals and waiting lists.

Click here for the full press release