Source · Select Committees · Petitions Committee
Recommendation 25
25
Accepted
Paragraph: 76
The Government’s response to our report last year failed to acknowledge the need for urgent...
Conclusion
The Government’s response to our report last year failed to acknowledge the need for urgent action to support new parents, rejecting almost all of our recommendations. One year on, many of the concerns we raised remain live issues. While the enormous demands of managing the nation’s response to the pandemic must be recognised, it is bitterly disappointing that the Government has failed to invest in catch-up services that could have helped mitigate the impact on new parents and their children of the first lockdown, or progressed crucial employment protections for new parents. We believe responding to the diverse needs of this group requires cross-Government buy-in and should be seen as a priority moving forward from the pandemic.
Government Response Summary
The government will not develop an isolated strategy for new parents, but instead integrate learning from all parents into a broader package of support. They announced £500 million of new funding for families and early years, including specific allocations for mental health support, Family Hubs, and early years providers.
Paragraph Reference:
76
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government is committed to supporting families throughout pregnancy and during the early years of a baby’s life. It is right that the impact on new parents of the pandemic and related restrictions is considered in designing this support. A coherent approach to responding to the needs of new parents should be based on an understanding of the experiences of all families. For this reason, the Government will not be developing an isolated strategy focussed on the impact of the pandemic on new parents. Instead, we will continue to consider and integrate the learning from the experiences of all parents, as we develop and implement a package of support for babies and families. This package is set out below. In addition to this, at the Budget on 27th October, 2021, the Government announced £500 million of funding for families and early years, over the next three years. The elements which make up this package of support are set out below. • £82 million to support 75 local areas to create a network of Family Hubs. Family Hubs are a way of joining up locally to improve access to services, the connections between families, professionals, services, and providers, and putting relationships at the heart of family help. They bring together services for children of all ages, with a great Start for Life offer at their core. This builds on the existing £39m investment to champion Family Hubs. • £10m across the SR for Local Authorities to establish a clear ‘Start for Life’ offer to ensure that parents and carers will be guaranteed clear information about 14 Government Response: Impact of Covid-19 on new parents: one year on Start for Life and family services in their area; and assurance they will have their voices heard in the design, planning and delivery of services. The offer will explain to parents and carers what services they are entitled to and how they can access them. • £50m to ensure online parenting programmes are available to new parents in the 75 selected local authorities, alongside additional targeted support to families most in need. • £50m across the SR to establish a multicomponent breastfeeding support services in line with local needs. Services may include antenatal breastfeeding classes, specialist consultation support, drop-in and telephone services, tongue tie services, volunteer peer supports and specialist training to early years staff. This offer will draw from best practice across England, including places like Tower Hamlets, which now has the highest breastfeeding rates at 6–8 weeks in England. • £100m across the SR to rollout bespoke parent-infant mental health support. Public Health England report that “10 – 20% of women develop a mental illness during pregnancy or the first year after having a baby”. Through investment in staffing, training and interventions, this package will nurture infant-parent- infant relationships and improve access to bespoke parental mental health support. • £10m across the SR to trial innovative workforce models in health visiting teams. This will invest in staff who are trained to provide mental health and breastfeeding support to families who need it, under the supervision of health visitors. This will ensure families receive the high quality and timely support they need, and support health visitors by freeing up some capacity. This will be trailed in a small number of Local Authorities and include evaluation of trials to support future workforce reform. • An additional £200m for the Supporting Families programme (previously the Troubled Families Programme) across the SR. Under the programme, a keyworker builds a trusted relationship with a family to help with practical issues and enable them to access more specialist services, to prevent problems escalating into crises. Investment in the programme will increase from £165m in 2021–22 to around £250m in 2024–25, a real terms increase of around 40%. This will increase the number of families supported by the programme from 70,000 in 2021–22 to more than 100,000 in 2024–25. • Reaffirms £153 million of the £1.4bn Education Recovery Package will go to early years providers over three academic years (AY 21/22–23/24). The Government has committed to publishing bespoke guidance for integrated care systems on how they should deliver for babies, children, young people and families. The guidance will clearly set out the statutory functions that will transfer from CCGs to Integrated Care Boards (including on children’s safeguarding, and special educational needs and disabilities). It will also cover the importance of the strategies produced by Integrated Care Partnerships having clear objectives for babies, children and young people.