Family hubs offering parenting support and youth services are set to be rolled out across every council in England, ministers have announced. The Department for Education is putting £500 million targeted at disadvantaged communities into the scheme.
The Government plans to establish a Best Start family hub in every local authority by April 2026. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the scheme will "give a lifeline" to families.
Expansion from Conservative rollout
Family hubs were originally rolled out across 75 local authorities at the start of 2024 by the then-Conservative government. Officials say the hubs will now be expanded to every local authority by April 2026, with up to 1,000 locations by the end of 2028.
The centres will offer birth registration, debt advice, midwifery services and support for parents who are separating or have separated. Officials hope the spaces will also provide families access to other services and social care.
Breaking background barriers
Phillipson said: "It's the driving mission of this government to break the link between a child's background and what they go on to achieve - our new Best Start family hubs will put the first building blocks of better life chances in place for more children." She added that she saw firsthand how initiatives like Sure Start helped level the playing field in her own community.
The Education Secretary described the initiative as "delivering a lifeline of consistent support across the nation, ensuring health, social care and education work in unison to ensure all children get the very best start in life". She said making sure hard-working parents benefit from more early help was "a promise made, and promise kept".
Conservative criticism
The Conservatives said the announcement "brings little clarity on what's genuinely new and what simply rebrands existing services". Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: "That lack of clarity is part of a wider pattern."
Trott added: "This is a Government defined by broken promises and endless U-turns." The Conservative response highlighted concerns about whether the initiative represents genuine new investment or repackaging of existing programmes.
Charity welcomes move
Charity Save The Children said it was "pleased" to see the Government "making it easier for families to get the help they need". Dan Paskins, executive director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns at Save The Children UK, welcomed the focus on family services for the under-fives.
Paskins said: "We know from our work in local communities that bringing together parenting, healthcare and education support services in one place is an approach which works." He called for the Government to scrap the two-child limit to Universal Credit when releasing its child poverty strategy in autumn.
Union backing
The head of the NAHT union welcomed the move. General secretary Paul Whiteman said: "This is a positive step forward towards ensuring all children get the best start - and we are pleased to see tangible investment following this week's announcement of new targets for school readiness."
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
