Department of Health and Social Care written question – answered at on 4 February 2026.
Andy MacNae
Labour, Rossendale and Darwen
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the rollout of Healthy Babies is compatible with the 10 Year Health Plan’s commitment to match Start for Life (Healthy Babies) services.
Ashley Dalton
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Government has a bold ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever and to give every baby the best start in life. Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies plays a crucial role in achieving this. We are committed to delivering the 10-Year Health Plan ambition to match Healthy Babies, formerly Start for Life, to Best Start Family Hubs over the next decade.
Healthy Babies is one element of our broader commitment to supporting babies, children, and families. From April 2026, Best Start Family Hubs will expand to every single local authority, backed by over £500 million to reach up to half a million more children and families. This funding will help all local authorities to integrate a range of statutory and non-statutory health and family services. We will continue to work in partnership with all local authorities, including those not receiving Healthy Babies funding, to support the integration and co-location of health services within Best Start Family Hub networks, laying the foundations for the future expansion of Healthy Babies services.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.