The government has announced £57m of funding for the Start for Life programme, to support children and families in deprived areas.
The funding will be given to 75 local authorities in England with high levels of deprivation in 2025-26 to support families and children to give them the best start in life.
The funding will be split into:
- £36.5m to improve mental health support for families and promote positive early relationships between babies and caregivers,
- £18.5m to improve infant feeding services and provide support with breastfeeding,
- £2m to ensure families can access and understand their local Start for Life services and support parents and carers to bring their insight into service design.
It comes after £69m was announced in the budget for a network of family hubs. Of this, £53m will go to the 75 local authorities in grant payments and £16m will support the delivery of the network of hubs.
The 75 local authorities receiving Family Hubs and Start for Life programme funding
- East of England: Bedford; Luton; Norfolk; Peterborough; Thurrock,
- London: Barking and Dagenham; Brent; Camden; Croydon; Enfield; Greenwich; Hackney; Haringey; Hounsow; Islington; Lambeth; Lewisham; Newham; Southwark; Tower Hamlets; Waltham Forest,
- South East: East Sussex; Isle of Wight; Kent; Medway; Portsmouth; Southampton,
- North East: County Durham; Gateshead; Hartlepool; Middlesborough; Newcastle upon Tyne; Northumberland; Redcar and Cleveland; South Tyneside; Sunderland,
- North West: Blackburn with Darwen; Blackpool; Bolton; Halton; Knowsley; Liverpool; Manchester; Oldham; Rochdale; Salford; St Helens; Tameside,
- Yorkshire and The Humber: Barnsley; Bradford; Calderdale; Doncaster; Kingston upon Hull, City of; North East Lincolnshire; North Lincolnshire; Rotherham; Sheffield; Wakefield,
- East Midlands: Derby; Leicester; Lincolnshire; North Northamptonshire; Nottingham,
- West Midlands: Birmingham; Coventry; Dudley; Sandwell; Stoke-on-Trent; Telford and Wrekin; Walsall; Wolverhampton,
- South West: Bristol, City of; Cornwall; Plymouth; Torbay.
Andrew Gwynne, Minister for Public Health and Prevention, said: ‘This crucial investment provides a strong foundation to deliver our commitment to raise the healthiest generation of children ever, by giving parents the support they need to ensure their baby has the best start in life.
‘The first two years of a child’s life lay the building blocks for their physical and emotional wellbeing into adulthood. That’s why we are investing in early years, as part of our Plan for Change, to improve access to services in deprived areas to ensure no one is left behind.’
Councillor David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, added: ‘We are pleased government has continued investment in family hubs and Start for Life services, which play a crucial role in supporting families and giving children the best start in life.
‘Long-term, sustainable funding is essential to ensuring all councils can meet local needs effectively and invest in vital staff such as health visitors.
‘We look forward to continuing to work with the government to deliver on its ambition to create the healthiest generation of children.’
It comes as children from the most deprived areas were found to be four times more likely to die from an asthma attack.
