Anne-Marie Trevelyan, MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed has welcomed the news that Northumberland will receive one of 75 new Family Hubs under plans to improve access to childcare, mental health services, housing advice, and employment across England.
As part of the Government’s plans to support vulnerable children and families, 75 councils across the country will receive a share of £302 million to build a new network of family hubs. 300,000 vulnerable families will also receive targeted support from a dedicated keyworker to overcome challenges at the earliest stage – preventing them from being caught up in the social care system and helping parents and children to stay together safely.
The Government is backing the Supporting Families programme with £700 million in funding over the next three years. Young people who go through the programme are 38 per cent less likely to end up in prison and 32 per cent less likely to be taken into care.
To help vulnerable young people leaving care make the transition to living independently, the Government is investing over £172 million over three years to support them to stay near their foster families or children’s home.
Extra services and advice will be provided to help young people leaving care to fulfil their potential. Councils will also be supported with an extra £3.2 million in 2022-23 to prevent care leavers from sleeping rough.
Anne-Marie said:
“I am so pleased Northumberland will be one of the first areas in the country to benefit from these new Family Hubs. It is so important to me that families in our county have access to high quality services to support them and their children’s development. These Family Hubs were a key manifesto commitment, and I am pleased we are delivering them as part of the £302 million Start for Life investment –improving local access to childcare, mental health services, housing advice and employment, for families who need them most.
“By ensuring vulnerable families and young people leaving care can access key support services in one place, we are helping to end the postcode lottery that too many of them can face.”
Commenting, Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, said:
“If we are to level up outcomes for children facing the biggest challenges, this needs to start at home. Being part of a stable, loving family gives a child an early advantage, which is why we are investing so significantly in helping every family to access the vital services that help them and their children thrive.
“Family Hubs offer localised early help and intervention, from early years support to counselling or parenting classes, all of which can make a transformative difference in the lives of parents and carers who may not have a support network.
“We also have a responsibility to protect young people leaving care, to play our role fully as their corporate parent when their birth parents are unable. This funding will provide them with personal support and guidance as they embark on adult life and contribute fully to their own communities.”
Summary of support for children and families:
- Acting on the Early Years Healthy Development Review, so we can better support young children in their first 1,001 days. We will deliver on the Action Areas set out in the Early Years Healthy Development Review, improving how families and babies are supported during the crucial first 1,001 days by encouraging all local authorities to publish a Start for Life offer for parents backed by our £500 million package for families (Will Quince, Speech, 2 November 2021, link).
- Spending £3.6 billion next year after providing £3.5 billion in funding each of the last three years on early education, putting every child on the path to a good education. We have spent £3.5 billion over each of the last three years on early education entitlements, including our free childcare offers for two, three- and four-year-olds (Hansard, 16 December 2021, Col.705 Vol.73WS, link; Hansard, 13 September 2020, Vol.700 Col.227WH, link).
- Delivering high quality early years provision, so every child can benefit from a world class start in life. 96 per cent of early years providers are now rated good or outstanding, up from 74 per cent in 2012. Just 3 per cent of providers now require improvement, down from 1 in 4 that did in 2012 (Ofsted, Childcare providers and inspections as at 31 March 2021, 26 August 2021, link).
- Investing in early year’s training, boosting quality provision and giving more children world-class support. We are providing an extra £170 million for childcare providers, and £150 million to support training and development for the early years workforce, to ensure children receive the best quality early years support (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, 27 October 2021, link).
- Paying more of the childcare costs for those on Universal Credit, supporting the families who need it most. Universal Credit pays up to 85 per cent of childcare costs, up to a monthly limit of £646.35 for 1 child or £1108.04 for 2 or more children. Under the old system just 70 per cent of childcare costs were covered (DWP, Universal Credit and Childcare, accessed 6 January 2022, link).