Government invests £20 million to provide more help for vulnerable families

Of the £20 million investment, half will be used to support local authorities to open new hubs, while the other £10m will be used to expand the ‘Growing up Well’ digital project, designed to level up outcomes for vulnerable and disadvantaged families – including improving how information is shared between professionals working with families in the Family Hubs.

The aim of Family Hubs is to bring services together in one place, preventing parents and carers from having to search for different types of support that might otherwise be too hard to find, especially for those on lower incomes. Services that will be ran from hubs include early education and childcare, mental health support, parenting classes, meetings with health visitors, counselling or advice for victims of domestic abuse.

The already established National Centre for Family Hubs will work with councils in the ten new areas to help them understand how best to build a hub network and to take steps at a national and local level to reduce the stigma felt by some parents when asking for help.

The funding announcement follows a commitment by the Government to create more Family Hubs within its manifesto.

It comes after publication of Andrea Leadsom’s ‘Best Start for Life: A Vision for the 1,001 critical days in March, which identified six action areas including championing Family Hubs as a place where parents and carers can access Start for Life services.

'Services like these offer early help and can make a huge difference'

Children and Families Minister Vicky Ford said, ‘It is absolutely vital that all families across England have access to the same high-quality services in their local communities, no matter where they live. Services like these which offer early help and intervention can make a huge difference for parents and carers, levelling up opportunities for every child to fulfil their potential.  

‘That is why we are championing Family Hubs, and this additional £20 million investment will drive forward this programme, helping to grow and expand hubs across the country so that even more parents and children can access the early health and education services we know can have a lifelong positive impact.’

Growing Up Well Project

The Department for Education also recently launched a second round of recruitment for three more local area partners for the Family Hubs Growing Up Well Project.

The project aims to improve how professionals collaborate and plan for families, with a focus on improving how information is shared and improving access of services for families.

Three additional councils primarily based in disadvantaged areas will be recruited as part of the project to help develop data and digital products to support the practical implementation of Family Hubs. This will involve working with the DfE to provide local insights to help develop digital solutions that reflect their community’s local needs.

It builds on work already being carried out by Bristol City Council and Lancashire County Council who were recruited in the first round of the project.

Commenting on the announcement, Labour’s shadow minister for children and early years Tulip Siddiq said, ‘This supposed commitment rings hollow after 11 years of cuts have forced the closure of over a thousand children’s centres.’