City MP Stephen Morgan has welcomed a Labour government funding boost to parents and children in Portsmouth.
Families across Portsmouth will be able to access pregnancy support, infant feeding advice, parenting classes and other support to give their child the best start in life, following the Labour Government £1,177,300 funding boost.
Across the country, around £57 million will be made available to 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation in 2025-26. This will provide a raft of support through Start for Life services to families with babies, from pregnancy up to the age of two. The £57 million for Start for Life services will be given to local authorities and consists of:
- £36.5 million to improve mental health support for families and promote positive early relationships between babies and caregivers;
- £18.5 million to improve infant feeding services and provide support with breastfeeding;
- £2 million to ensure families can access and understand their local Start for Life services and support parents and carers to bring their valuable insight into service design.
It comes on top of the £69 million announced in the Budget for a network of family hubs, which act as a one-stop-shop for families to get help with infant feeding advice, parenting classes and perinatal mental health support, among other areas.
Parents and children across England will be able to give their child the best start in life thanks to a £1 million government funding boost.
Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. Antenatal classes, health visitors, parenting support, baby and toddler groups and access to affordable, high-quality early education and childcare – all are vital to guiding parents and supporting child development. Yet over 80% of parents have said they struggled to access services.
This lack of support in early years can act as a barrier to development and contributes to too many children not being ready to start school, with over a third of children unable to dress independently and 90% of reception teachers saying they have at least one child in the class not toilet trained.
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
“As we know, children’s early years are absolutely vital to their development, health and life chances.
“This investment by the Labour government will be vital in ensuring Portsmouth families get access to the services they need to give their child the best start in life.
“That means more Portsmouth children than ever hitting the key early learning goals on their development, as well as their communication, literacy and maths.”
Andrew Gwynne, Minister for Public Health and Prevention, said:
“This crucial investment provides a strong foundation to deliver our commitment to raise the healthiest generation of children ever, by giving parents the support they need to ensure their baby has the best start in life.
“The first two years of a child’s life lay the building blocks for their physical and emotional wellbeing into adulthood. That’s why we are investing in early years, as part of our Plan for Change, to improve access to services in deprived areas to ensure no-one is left behind.”
