Fourteen areas named as 'Trailblazer' Family Hubs

Dame Andrea Leadsom, the Government's early years healthy development advisor, has today revealed the 14 trailblazer local authorities that will receive extra funding to 'lead the way to improve services for families' and help the 'wider rollout of the Family Hubs programme, which is already underway in some areas.

To promote the news, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty visited St Austell Family Hub in Cornwall (pictured) where they where they met parents, babies and toddlers.

It forms part of the Prime Minister's ambition to 'put families at the centre of communities', and comes after the Government announced last April the 75 local authorities that are taking part in the Start for Life and Family Hub programme. The programme is backed by £300m worth of Government funding up to 2025. 

Speaking exclusively to Nursery World in the run up to the announcement, Leadsom said, ‘Following a 15 month sign-up process, after the original funding was announced in October 2021, each of the 75 local authorities has now received the first phase of funding, which is in the region of a quarter to half a million pounds, to get them started. On top of this, the remaining 75 local authorities are getting support to work on their family hubs offer.’

In a separate announcement from Government, expected later today, details will be released about the final five areas to receive investment from the Family Hubs Transformation Fund, which will transition services which used to operate under the Sure Start banner over to the Family Hub model. This will enable a further 12 local authorities across England to open family hubs by March 2024.

A report outlining the progress the Government has made against its commitments to date, along with priorities for further work, will be published later today.

The new hubs will offer support from conception through to age 19, or up to 25 for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND). They will offer early support to families and young children, including help with infant feeding and perinatal mental health support, as well as making it easier to access wider services such as smoking cessation and job advice. But they will not offer any form of childcare, Leadsom confirmed.

She said, ‘The first tangible difference with the Start for Life offer is that parents-to-be will receive a Start for Life offer with an app, an address for the Hub and a telephone number of a key contact. Here they will attend their antenatal appointments and get a warm welcome, parenting advice, antenatal help, health visiting, mental health and infant feeding support - or even advice on relationship building or how to get into work.’

She added, ‘There will be a strong focus on dads and co-parents who have for far too long been left out.’

Leadsom also told Nursery World about how the £300m investment was being spent.

‘It will go towards developing the Start for Life app; converting the building into a Family Hub – whether it’s a precious children’s centre, a council building or a faith building – and ensuring that it is warm and welcoming with a café area, separate rooms for baby weighing, antenatal checks and therapy sessions. £100m will be shared between the 75 local authorities to provide support for parent-infant relationships, which includes recruiting people to support struggling families.

'There will also be investment into breastfeeding support services and parenting programmes.’

Leadsom confirmed that her role as early years healthy development adviser will be extended until the end of parliament and that she will be working with Steve Barclay, the health and social care minister, who will be 'responsible for sponsoring' the Start for Life and Family Hubs offer.

Children, families and wellbeing minister, Claire Coutinho added, 'Family hubs bring services together helping parents, carers, children and young people to access the support they need more easily.'

Call for more investment

The NDNA said it 'Wholeheartedly agreed with Dame Andrea Leadsom’s comments that there is no better time to invest than a child’s early years, however an opportunity had been missed to invest more in early education and childcare.

Stella Ziolkowski, NDNA’s director of quality and training explained, 'Although thousands of children have their wellbeing and development supported in nurseries and other childcare provision across the country, many more simply can’t afford this because the Government contribution per child is among the lowest in OECD countries. Early learning should never be a luxury but a right for every child.

'We ask the Government to invest sufficiently in early years as part of their overall early help strategy.'

The 14 trailblazer areas 

• Torbay
• Sheffield  
• County Durham 
• Cornwall 
• Salford 
• Kent 
• Sunderland 
• Manchester 
• Northumberland 
• Hull 
• Coventry 
• Blackpool 
• East Sussex 
• Isle of Wight