Committee publication · Government Response · 22 April 2026
Government Response to the Committee's Fifth Report
From: Health and Social Care Committee
Inquiry: The First 1000 Days: a renewed focus
Summary
This is the government's formal response to the Health and Social Care Committee's January 2026 report on 'The First 1000 Days'. The government welcomes the committee's 15 recommendations on early childhood support and sets out its position on family hubs expansion, health visiting, workforce planning, vaccinations, and service integration. It commits to 1,000 new family hubs by 2028 and £1.5 billion funding, though stops short of committing to specific health visitor recruitment numbers.
Key findings
- Government commits to expanding Best Start Family Hubs from 200 in April 2026 to 1,000 by 2028, plus 2,000 network sites in community venues, backed by £900 million to £1.5 billion over three years.
- On health visiting, government rejects immediate commitment to recruit 1,000 additional health visitors, stating commitment will emerge through 10 Year Workforce Plan in spring 2026; notes latest data shows 80.8% uptake of 2-to-2.5-year reviews in 2024-25, above pre-pandemic levels.
- Commits £109 million (2026-29) for Healthy Babies perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support; emphasises targeted outreach to ethnic minority families with disproportionately poorer outcomes.
- Does not reinstate 95% vaccination coverage target in NHS planning guidance; instead emphasises national communication campaign and pilots for health visitor-led vaccination delivery from January 2026.
- Pledges to develop safe staffing tools for health visitors over next few years and refresh Healthy Child Programme guidance; expects every local authority to undergo external peer review every 5 years.
Government position
The government partially accepts the committee's recommendations. It welcomes the overall ambition but declines several specific asks: it does not commit to recruiting 1,000 health visitors immediately or to raising mandatory health visitor contacts from 5 to 6; it does not reinstate the 95% vaccination target in planning guidance; and it declines to commit to precise workforce numbers in the 10 Year Workforce Plan, citing need for flexibility. However, it accepts the expansion of family hubs (already announcing 1,000 by 2028), commits significant funding for perinatal mental health and integration, and announces new peer review and improvement mechanisms for local authorities. The response emphasises proportional universalism and local decision-making over centrally-mandated targets.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Department for Education (DfE), Health and Social Care Committee, NHS England, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Local authorities, Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood
Notable line
“Every £1 of up-front investment in Sure Start generated roughly £2.05 in long- term, direct and indirect benefits.”
Key Quotes
“This government is clear on its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever and to ensure every family has the support they need to give their child the very best start in life.”
“As of April 2026, over 200 new Best Start Family Hubs will open in previously unfunded local authorities, meaning that there will be Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority area in England.”
“We have set an ambition that 70% of Best Start Family Hubs should be located in the 30% most deprived areas nationally.”
“We cannot commit to a specific number at this stage, but we are working closely with regions in relation to the current challenges for releasing staff to fill commissioned training places.”
“Approximately 1 in 4 women experience mental health problems such as depression or anxiety during pregnancy or in the 2 years after childbirth …”
“The latest published annual health visitor service delivery metrics for 2024 to 2025 show less variation in performance for the 2 to 2- and-a-half year review across local authorities compared to the 2023 to 2024 data quoted in the committee's report.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗