First Report - Impact of Covid-19 on new parents: one year on

The government accepted the need for urgent comprehensive support by announcing 26 new integrated maternity hubs, expanding specialist perinatal mental health services, ensuring GP postnatal checks, increasing Mother and Baby unit capacity, and committing £100 million for bespoke mental health support.

The government details new and existing investments, including £100 million for bespoke mental health support for new and expectant parents, and outlines the expansion of NHS perinatal mental health hubs and Mother and Baby units.

The government outlines significant new investment, including £100 million for bespoke mental health support for new and expectant parents, and details the expansion of NHS perinatal mental health hubs and Mother and Baby units.

The government reiterates that every family should be offered five face-to-face health and wellbeing reviews by health visitors. It states that the Public Health Grant for local authorities will be maintained in real terms, enabling investment in services, but does not commit to additional central government funding for extra need.

The government states that the Public Health Grant will be maintained in real terms, enabling local authorities to invest in child health visits and existing health visitor services which are already designed to be face-to-face where necessary. They also point to ongoing work to build evidence on virtual interventions and suggest recovery plans for COVID-19 impacts.

The government states that an evaluation of the Adoption Support Fund's expanded scope in 2020-21 was published on 20 October 2021, aligning with the recommendation for a review. Findings from this evaluation and a wider internal review will inform future business planning and the Spending Review.

The government accepts the recommendation and commits to extending redundancy protections for new and expectant mothers. This includes applying protection from pregnancy notification, extending it for six months after returning to work, and extending it for those on adoption or shared parental leave, with implementation planned as soon as parliamentary time allows.

The government accepted the recommendation to invest proportionately by announcing a £500 million families and early years support package for the next three years, including £100 million for parental mental health, £82 million for Family Hubs, and £10 million for staff recruitment.

The government details multiple ongoing initiatives to communicate information about pregnancy and COVID-19, including vaccine safety, to support informed decisions by pregnant women. These include letters to healthcare services, media appearances by medical officials, sharing case stories, publishing new data, and changes to vaccine priority groups.

The government states existing health and safety protections for pregnant workers are in place and that HSE does record all breaches of health and safety where enforcement action is taken. They refute the claim of not recording specific breaches for pregnant workers by stating none were recorded for risk assessment failures, and HSE will engage with stakeholders to clarify guidance.

The government details over £3.5 billion spent annually on early education entitlements, plus an additional £510 million over three years for early years entitlements. They also outline existing support through Universal Credit and Tax-Free Childcare, aiming to provide long-term support for the childcare sector, while stating they will not launch an independent review of childcare at this time.

The government acknowledges the challenges of childcare costs by outlining existing support through Universal Credit and Tax-Free Childcare, and committing significant additional funding of over £500 million for early years entitlements over the next three years to increase hourly rates for providers.

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.