• Birmingham is expected to receive at least £3,664,300 through family hubs and the Start for Life programme.
• Funding part of £126 million boost for families to give every child the best start of life and deliver on Labour’s Plan for Change.
Families and children in Birmingham will be able to access early years support such as pregnancy support, infant feeding advice, parenting classes and other support to give their child the best start in life, following a £126 million Government funding boost – delivering on the Labour’s Plan for Change.
Birmingham is expected to receive at least £3,664,300 as part of the wider investment increase.
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.
As part of our Plan for Change we’re committed to strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood and improve long term outcomes for children - including through today’s investment in Family Hubs and the Start for Life programme.
Preet Kaur Gill, MP for Birmingham, Edgbaston said:
“As an ex-children's services manager, I am absolutely delighted that families and children in Birmingham, Edgbaston will be able to access early years support through this funding boost from the Government.
“Families in Birmingham, Edgbaston elected a Labour government to give every child the best possible start in life, and that is what we’re delivering.
“Given the cuts to children's centres made by the last government, this will make such a huge difference for so many families in our community and I know that the impact will be felt for years to come.”
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.”
ENDS
Notes for editors
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.
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.
The figures below are provisional funding allocations that the 75 programme local authorities will be eligible to receive for the financial year 2025-26. Final figures will be confirmed in due course.
Local Authority Total
Hartlepool £939,800
Middlesbrough £1,102,500
Redcar and Cleveland £1,010,100
Halton £1,007,900
Blackburn with Darwen £1,131,800
Blackpool £1,038,900
Kingston upon Hull, City of £1,375,500
North East Lincolnshire £1,056,700
North Lincolnshire £1,071,500
Derby £1,338,300
Leicester £1,637,100
Nottingham £1,460,300
Telford and Wrekin £1,159,300
Stoke-on-Trent £1,357,600
Bristol, City of £1,718,900
Plymouth £1,251,600
Torbay £965,700
Peterborough £1,290,600
Luton £1,402,900
Thurrock £1,209,000
Medway £1,415,000
Portsmouth £1,177,300
Southampton £1,280,800
Isle of Wight £956,600
County Durham £1,684,300
Cornwall £1,716,500
Bedford £1,168,000
Northumberland £1,281,300
North Northamptonshire £1,519,400
Bolton £1,474,000
Manchester £2,115,300
Oldham £1,381,400
Rochdale £1,311,300
Salford £1,423,900
Tameside £1,251,800
Knowsley £1,130,600
Liverpool £1,769,900
St. Helens £1,115,800
Barnsley £1,257,000
Doncaster £1,419,300
Rotherham £1,322,100
Sheffield £1,911,100
Newcastle upon Tyne £1,376,200
South Tyneside £1,034,200
Sunderland £1,294,000
Birmingham £3,664,300
Coventry £1,583,700
Dudley £1,441,000
Sandwell £1,619,700
Walsall £1,449,400
Wolverhampton £1,422,800
Bradford £2,134,200
Calderdale £1,166,600
Wakefield £1,505,200
Gateshead £1,129,100
Barking and Dagenham £1,417,600
Brent £1,576,400
Camden £1,143,000
Croydon £1,709,000
Enfield £1,535,700
Greenwich £1,472,500
Hackney £1,385,700
Haringey £1,330,600
Hounslow £1,443,400
Islington £1,177,200
Lambeth £1,342,400
Lewisham £1,440,400
Newham £1,744,100
Southwark £1,379,100
Tower Hamlets £1,486,800
Waltham Forest £1,476,800
East Sussex £1,686,800
Kent £4,099,400
Lincolnshire £2,103,000
Norfolk £2,343,500
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