Families are set to receive £126 million in early years support. 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, the Labour Party government has confirmed.
A £126 million boost has been announced 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. There will be £36.5 million to improve mental health support for families and promote positive early relationships between babies and caregivers.
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There will be £18.5 million to improve infant feeding services and provide support with breastfeeding and £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 too.
People can get support from a family hub if they are an expectant parent or carer, a parent or carer of a child aged 0 to 19 – or 25 with special educational needs or a disability or a young person up to the age of 19, or up to 25 with special educational needs or a disability.
It means parents of children born between 2006 and 2025 can benefit. Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau, said: “The National Children’s Bureau supports the government’s ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever, and its mission to increase the number of 5 year olds reaching a good level of development by the end of the early years foundation stage, before the next general election.
“That is why we warmly welcome today’s announcement that funding for the Start for Life programme will be extended until March 2026. This complements commitments in October’s Budget to fund family hubs, improve the quality of early education and childcare, and provide £250 million for local authorities to develop a new Family Help offer for those struggling with the greatest adversity.
“The funding announced today is a much needed down-payment that must pave the way for greater investment in the multi-year Spending Review, so that Start for Life can reach all parts of the country.”