Written questions by Hayes.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Best Start Family Hubs on the proportion of children who are subsequently re-registered on the child protection register.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​Best Start Family Hubs will provide support for families that need it. They will improve the join up of vital services in an area and making it easier for children and families to access a range of help at the right time, irrespective of their needs. This includes the roll out of Family Help, which is showing positive early impact. We will continue to monitor outcomes for children through our published children in need statistics.​The Families First for Children Pathfinder has also tested radical reforms in local areas, across family help, child protection, family networks and safeguarding partners.​The pathfinder draws on evidence and existing good practice, including from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme and the ten participating areas are reporting positive early impacts.​The department commissioned Ecorys and consortium to carry out process, impact and value-for-money evaluation of the Family Hubs transformation, home learning environment and parenting support programme elements of the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme which is ongoing. Findings should be available in early 2026.​Monitoring and evaluation will be a crucial component of the new Best Start Family Hubs. Planning is ongoing but we expect to include continue robust monitoring and evaluation, particularly looking at impact including on the impact on children from different backgrounds.

What steps she is taking to ensure that new Best Start Family Hubs are integrated with primary care services.

Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. This government has an ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever. Improved health and education go hand in hand, as healthier children are better able to learn and children who achieve well in education go on to live healthier lives. Consequently, the Best Start in Life strategy makes it clear that the integration of strengthened health services within Best Start Family Hubs is critical to achieving these objectives.Best Start Family Hubs will be a crucial part of shifting from treatment to prevention, and from hospital to community care. The department of Health and Social Care’s 10 Year Health Plan sets out how a new Neighbourhood Health Service will build on and coordinate with Best Start Family Hubs and Start for Life services to continue to integrate children’s services, NHS and public health, including primary care.

What assessment has she made of the potential impact of Best Start Family Hubs on (a) children’s development and (b) educational outcomes.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​As part of the ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’ publication, the department announced that each best start family hub will have a children and family services professional specifically trained in working to support parents of children with additional needs. This will help identify and support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who may need extra help early on, making links with local early years settings and health services.​Evidence suggests that early intervention through integrated family support services can boost early special educational needs (SEN) identification and academic performance. The Institute of Fiscal Studies published a study in May 2025, on the short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start, which best start family hubs will draw lessons from. This revealed Sure Start programmes significantly improved educational achievements of children up to age 16 and reduced the likelihood of children of ages 7 to 16 having a SEN support plan.​Speech, language and communication remain a core focus of home learning environment support, and the remit has broadened to enable a more holistic approach to early development. Several local authorities have introduced play co-ordinators in family hubs, trained to identify speech and language delays and support parents in promoting development at home.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Best Start Family Hubs on the number of children with speech and language problems requiring specialist intervention.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​As part of the ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’ publication, the department announced that each best start family hub will have a children and family services professional specifically trained in working to support parents of children with additional needs. This will help identify and support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who may need extra help early on, making links with local early years settings and health services.​Evidence suggests that early intervention through integrated family support services can boost early special educational needs (SEN) identification and academic performance. The Institute of Fiscal Studies published a study in May 2025, on the short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start, which best start family hubs will draw lessons from. This revealed Sure Start programmes significantly improved educational achievements of children up to age 16 and reduced the likelihood of children of ages 7 to 16 having a SEN support plan.​Speech, language and communication remain a core focus of home learning environment support, and the remit has broadened to enable a more holistic approach to early development. Several local authorities have introduced play co-ordinators in family hubs, trained to identify speech and language delays and support parents in promoting development at home.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Best Start Family Hubs on child safeguarding.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​Best Start Family Hubs will provide support for families that need it. They will improve the join up of vital services in an area and making it easier for children and families to access a range of help at the right time, irrespective of their needs. This includes the roll out of Family Help, which is showing positive early impact. We will continue to monitor outcomes for children through our published children in need statistics.​The Families First for Children Pathfinder has also tested radical reforms in local areas, across family help, child protection, family networks and safeguarding partners.​The pathfinder draws on evidence and existing good practice, including from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme and the ten participating areas are reporting positive early impacts.​The department commissioned Ecorys and consortium to carry out process, impact and value-for-money evaluation of the Family Hubs transformation, home learning environment and parenting support programme elements of the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme which is ongoing. Findings should be available in early 2026.​Monitoring and evaluation will be a crucial component of the new Best Start Family Hubs. Planning is ongoing but we expect to include continue robust monitoring and evaluation, particularly looking at impact including on the impact on children from different backgrounds.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of co-location of Best Start Family Hubs and local primary schools.

Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.The precise location of Best Start Family Hubs will be for local authorities to decide in consultation with their local communities. We will be providing guidance to local authorities on programme design in time to support service delivery from April 2026.

What role local authorities will have in the (a) delivery and (b) day-to-day operation of Best Start Family Hubs.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​The government is investing over £500 million to create a network of up to 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs across every local authority in England by 2028. Best Start Family Hubs builds on previous investment into Family Hubs and Start for Life services between 2022 and 2026 for 88 local authorities.​Local authorities will deliver joined up and enhanced services through family hubs so that all parents and carers can access the support they need, when they need it. Local authorities will receive a programme guide with minimum delivery expectations and will be expected to develop clear plans to establish and enhance family hubs in their area. Their role will include identifying family hub sites, commissioning services within family hubs and the recruitment of staff to deliver services. Services will vary depending on local needs, though examples are: 'stay and play' sessions for child and families, parenting advice and courses, support for children‘s language and emotional development, health services, and support for parents in creating a positive home learning environment.

What lessons her Department has learned from the preceding roll out of (a) Sure Start Sure Start Local Programmes and (b) Sure Start Children’s Centres.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​Research by the Institute of Fiscal Studies has shown that access to Sure Start local programmes and Sure Start children’s centres in early life generated widespread, long-lasting benefits, improving children’s health and educational outcomes and reducing the prevalence of identified special education needs and disabilities (SEND). Building on these lessons, we are strengthening the early years system through Best Start Family Hubs to provide essential support for parents, improve health, education, and wellbeing, and offer a single access point for services, including a digital offer, targeted in the places we know will make the most impact.

What steps she is taking to ensure that new Best Start Family Hubs will effectively (a) target and (b) reach out to the most disadvantaged families.

Best Start Family Hubs will prioritise delivery in areas of disadvantage, where families face the greatest barriers to support. The department will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to ensure that children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities can access it. These hubs will be open to all families to ensure services are both inclusive and targeted. As of March 2025, there are over 600 Family Hubs across the 88 currently funded local authorities, with up to 1000 hubs expected across the country by the end of 2028.We will provide funding to every local authority in England through the Best Start Family Hubs programme, to make sure that no parent needs to face the challenges of parenthood alone. This will include more funding to local authorities to deliver greater outreach to make sure no one misses out.

Whether she has considered commissioning (a) medium- and (b) long-term studies to monitor the effectiveness of Best Start Family Hubs.

Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.Monitoring and evaluation will be a crucial component of the programme from the beginning. Planning is ongoing, but we expect it to include continue robust monitoring and evaluation.

Whether she plans to ringfence funding associated with the (a) establishment and (b) operation of new Best Start Family Hubs.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, is the cornerstone of the government’s Opportunity Mission.The funding mechanism for Best Start Family Hubs will be announced in due course.

How many former Sure Start children’s centres have (a) closed and (b) reduced services so that they no longer meet the statutory criteria of a children’s centre since 2011.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.Data on the number of Sure Start children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools database portal, which can be accessed here: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.​Based on information supplied by local authorities, 779 children’s centres have closed since 2011. Local authorities have converted a further 686 children’s centres into ‘children’s centre linked sites’. These are formerly children's centres in their own right, but they no longer meet the statutory definition of a children’s centre. They offer some early childhood services on behalf of another children's centre.​These figures are based on information supplied by local authorities as at 2 September 2025. These figures could change again in future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.

What steps she is taking to ensure that (a) areas of rural poverty and (b) areas with concentrated pockets of deprivation can access new Best Start Family Hubs.

Best Start Family Hubs will prioritise delivery in areas of disadvantage, where families face the greatest barriers to support. The department will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to ensure that children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities can access it. These hubs will be open to all families to ensure services are both inclusive and targeted. As of March 2025, there are over 600 Family Hubs across the 88 currently funded local authorities, with up to 1000 hubs expected across the country by the end of 2028.We will provide funding to every local authority in England through the Best Start Family Hubs programme, to make sure that no parent needs to face the challenges of parenthood alone. This will include more funding to local authorities to deliver greater outreach to make sure no one misses out.

How many children from deprived communities will be able to access a new Best Start Family Hub by the end of the Parliament.

Best Start Family Hubs will prioritise delivery in areas of disadvantage, where families face the greatest barriers to support. The department will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to ensure that children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities can access it. These hubs will be open to all families to ensure services are both inclusive and targeted. As of March 2025, there are over 600 Family Hubs across the 88 currently funded local authorities, with up to 1000 hubs expected across the country by the end of 2028.We will provide funding to every local authority in England through the Best Start Family Hubs programme, to make sure that no parent needs to face the challenges of parenthood alone. This will include more funding to local authorities to deliver greater outreach to make sure no one misses out.

Which services are set to be delivered by the Government’s new Best Start Family Hubs.

The Best Start Family Hubs programme will fund all local authorities in England to deliver services to support ages 0 to 5, with more funding for parent and home learning environment evidence-based interventions for ages 3 to 4, while retaining support for ages 0 to 19. Funding will improve outreach and introduce a new role to identify children with special educational needs and disabilities. Hubs will involve parents in decision-making, be open to all, and focus on disadvantaged communities. Professionals across local teams will collaborate, and a new digital hub will be created to support all parents. The initiative aims to strengthen early years support and accessibility nationwide.

What steps she is taking within the Best Start Family Hub programme to ensure that the new centres enhance local opportunities to access good quality play.

From April 2026, Best Start Family Hubs will continue to provide universal and targeted services for families from pregnancy through age five and beyond. These include peer support sessions, stay-and-play activities, parent champions, and community outreach, all of which help build strong relationships, promote early bonding, and support development from birth.Community-based activities such as stay-and-play sessions and parenting groups are a vital part of this offer, helping to reduce isolation, build parental confidence and promote early learning through play and shared experiences.

What proportion of funding for new Best Start Family Hubs is classified as capital spending.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, is the cornerstone of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​Capital allocations will be announced in due course.

What learnings she has made from existing best practice in the design of the new programme of Best Start Family Hubs.

Drawing on existing best practice, we are delivering Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority from April 2026, backed by stronger national infrastructure, new digital services, and a defined core offer.The government is setting national direction for family services with clearer expectations, stronger local leadership, and better data. Every local authority will receive funding to enhance and integrate local support, including evidence-based parental support for early development and language, targeted outreach, engagement programmes, and robust digital services.

What estimate she has made of the minimum beneficial amount of enrichment activity for children.

The department, working closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, has committed to publishing a new enrichment framework by the end of 2025. The framework is being developed alongside a working group consisting of experts from schools, youth, sports, arts and research organisations, to identify and reflect effective practice in schools.The working group will consider how the framework can support equal access and support all pupils to engage with a school’s offer. The department expects the framework to set out benchmarks for high quality enrichment offers and to provide advice for schools on how to plan their offer strategically and intentionally. The framework is still in development, and we are considering all evidence, including examples of what works for a range of different schools.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of enrichment activities on children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The department, working closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, has committed to publishing a new enrichment framework by the end of 2025. The framework is being developed alongside a working group consisting of experts from schools, youth, sports, arts and research organisations, to identify and reflect effective practice in schools.The working group will consider how the framework can support equal access and support all pupils to engage with a school’s offer. The department expects the framework to set out benchmarks for high quality enrichment offers and to provide advice for schools on how to plan their offer strategically and intentionally. The framework is still in development, and we are considering all evidence, including examples of what works for a range of different schools.