Government announces additional £126m funding for early years support

The government has announced a £126 million funding boost aimed at giving thousands of parents across England the ‘best start to life’ for their children.

Around £57 million will be made available to 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation in 2025 to 2026. This will provide a raft of support through Start for Life services to families with babies, from pregnancy up to the age of 2. The £57 million will be allocated as follows:

• £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

The funding 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.

Minister for Children and Families, Janet Daby, said “Investment in these crucial services will break down barriers to opportunity, support families and get a record proportion of children ready for school.”

“Through our Plan for Change, we’ll ensure tens of thousands more children are hitting key early learning goals on personal, social and physical development as well as communication, literacy and maths. That’s because children growing up in our country deserve the best start in life - nothing less.”