Speeches by Dalton.

“What Liz has identified is that we have put that service into the family hubs and Start for Life programme. We have identified that, and provided that initial support through that programme. We can do a little bit more work—and I am happy to come back to the Committee on this—to look at how we dovetail that with the wi…”

“It is down to ICBs to decide how they allocate the funding that is provided to them and what is appropriate for their local communities. I think it is really important that, as we delegate that decision making to local areas—whether to ICBs or to local authorities through the public health grant—they do that. I am more…”

“Since the launch of family hubs and the Start for Life programme, family hubs have offered support to families of children of all ages, but we maintain a focus on what we call the 1,001 days, actually, which is from conception to the age of two. That remains important. We have that continued focus from conception to ag…”

“In terms of maternal support, you will know that we have launched the independent national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services. The investigation is going to make clear sets of national recommendations by December this year to achieve high-quality, safe care right across maternity and neonatal servic…”

“We are aware of some systemic issues with maternity and neonatal care, and we are making sure that we are providing high-quality, safe care and that all women and families are listened to. That includes post-natal care, including support for mental health. We know that many women and babies do receive excellent care, b…”

“Yes. This is the beginning of our ambition to deliver the healthiest generation of children ever. As I said, this is a decade of renewal. We have identified the beginnings of that following the recent spending review. We have also put in place, from the Department of Health and Social Care, our key commitment in our 10…”

“We have laid out our 10-year plan for health, and part of that includes shifting from sickness to prevention, so that where possible, where we can prevent the need for acute services, we want to be able to do that by changing the environment and supporting people to make some of those healthier choices where appropriat…”

“Yes—and we are not waiting for the workforce plan on this, either. We are taking action now to increase the pipeline of speech and language therapists, and the NHS is supporting an increased number of students recruited on to the three-year degree programme. Numbers have increased: there were 817 in 2019 and now 1,434 …”

“The workforce plan will focus specifically on recruitment, retention and professional development. Rolling out services, referrals and access to services is part and parcel of the roll-out of the 10-year plan for health and the family hubs and Start for Life programme. The neighbourhood health services and the Best Sta…”

“What we have touched on already is the way that the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme will be able to identify those needs by working in partnership with health visitors, joining up all those services and signposting where appropriate. We have covered that in the conversations we have already had about speech an…”

“As you are aware, in July, we announced a £500 million investment to roll out Best Start family hubs nationally. As you identified, 1,000 hubs will be created across the country by the end of 2028. That is specifically the Best Start in Life family hubs. This is the beginning of a decade of renewal, which we have discu…”

“Hello, I am Minister Ashley Dalton, and I am the Minister for Public Health and Prevention.”

“Yes. What is right for Blackpool might not necessarily be right for Basingstoke. That is why we have ICBs. Of course a lot of health visitor services are rolled out and delivered by local authorities, and we support them to do that through our public health grant. They are responding to community need, and that will be…”

“Well, it is up to those local areas to identify what is required. I think everybody would agree that, where there are activities or services that do not need that high level of clinical expertise, a multidisciplinary team working together might very well be an appropriate way for those communities to roll out those ser…”

“What is highlighted by the example of Blackpool is local areas identifying what is needed in their communities and being innovative and creative about how they deliver that. One model will not be the only model for everywhere; it will depend on the needs of the community. We encourage commissioners—local authorities an…”

“We knew when we came into government that that feeling was not exclusive to health visitors. That is what staff in the NHS have told us time and time again. We know that staff in the NHS are dedicated to delivering the best possible service—that is what they want to do, and they have been frustrated by over a decade of…”

“That is why I was talking about the workforce plan—it is not just about how many more we need; it is about what they can be doing. That is not only about giving them more and more to do. It is about saying, “What are they doing at the moment that actually might be delivered in a better way and a different way, which co…”

“Yes. We have said very clearly in our 10-year plan that one of the key tenets is moving from hospital to community where possible. If things have to be delivered in an acute setting, obviously that is where they should be, but where things can be delivered in the community, they should be delivered in the community, pa…”

“Later this year, yes. It is not just about numbers; it is about a new long-term professional strategy for nurses, health visitors, midwives and nursing associates across all settings in England. It is really important that, instead of just asking how many staff we need to maintain our care model, we ask how we do that …”

“The 10-year workforce plan will be published later this year. That is as specific as I’ve got. I do not have an actual date.”