Written questions by Hayes.

How many and what proportion of employed midwives required a work visa in each of the last ten years.

The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold the information requested.However, data published by the Home Office on grants of Health and Social Care Worker visas to midwives shows 606 grants in total during 2023 but a significant reduction in recent quarters. Only 18 grants were issued in the latest data for the three months to June 2025. Data up to March 2024 can be found in the spreadsheet ‘Sponsored work entry clearance visas by occupation and industry (SOC 2010), year ending March 2024’, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables. Data for the last three quarters can be found in the following spreadsheet ‘Sponsored work entry clearance visas by occupation and industry (SOC 2020), year ending June 2025’, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables. Not all of those with Health and Social Care visas will be sponsored by NHS providers in England.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the retention rate amongst NHS midwives.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals, including midwives.To support this ambition, the Government plans to introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention by tackling the issues that matter to staff, including promoting flexible working, improving staff health and wellbeing, and dealing with violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the NHS workplace. They will provide a framework for leaders across the NHS to build a supportive culture that embeds retention.NHS England is already leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

What estimate he has made of the employment rate amongst midwifery graduates since 1 January 2023.

The Department does not hold the information requested.

What proportion of newly employed midwives secured employment with their preferred NHS trust since 1 January 2023.

The Department does not hold the information requested.

What proportion of newly employed midwives found employment within 20 miles of their home address since 2023.

The Department does not hold the information requested.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the international labour supply of midwives on the (a) training and (b) employment of British midwives.

The Government is committed to developing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join our NHS. Later this year, we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will outline strategies for improving retention, productivity, training, and reducing attrition—enhancing conditions for all staff, while gradually reducing reliance on international recruitment, without diminishing the value of their contributions.

What steps he is taking to improve staff retention in NHS midwifery services.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals, including midwives.To support this ambition, the Government plans to introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention by tackling the issues that matter to staff, including promoting flexible working, improving staff health and wellbeing, and dealing with violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the NHS workplace. They will provide a framework for leaders across the NHS to build a supportive culture that embeds retention.NHS England is already leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

What steps he ia taking to reduce staff sickness absences amongst NHS staff.

NHS England publishes monthly data on sickness absence rates for staff working in the National Health Service. This is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-sickness-absence-ratesHowever, data on the duration of the absence is not available.As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, Staff Treatment Hubs will be rolled out to ensure staff have access to high quality support for occupational health. This will include support for mental health and back conditions which are the main drivers of sickness absence in the NHS.The commitment to Staff Treatment Hubs draws on various evidence sources including the NHS England internal Staff Treatment Access Review which demonstrated the clear productivity and economic argument for investing in the health of our NHS staff, particularly focusing on mental health and musculoskeletal treatment services.We will also work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.

What estimate he has made of levels of long-term sickness amongst NHS staff.

NHS England publishes monthly data on sickness absence rates for staff working in the National Health Service. This is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-sickness-absence-ratesHowever, data on the duration of the absence is not available.As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, Staff Treatment Hubs will be rolled out to ensure staff have access to high quality support for occupational health. This will include support for mental health and back conditions which are the main drivers of sickness absence in the NHS.The commitment to Staff Treatment Hubs draws on various evidence sources including the NHS England internal Staff Treatment Access Review which demonstrated the clear productivity and economic argument for investing in the health of our NHS staff, particularly focusing on mental health and musculoskeletal treatment services.We will also work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Best Start Family Hubs on the proportion of children who are subsequently re-registered on the child protection register.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​Best Start Family Hubs will provide support for families that need it. They will improve the join up of vital services in an area and making it easier for children and families to access a range of help at the right time, irrespective of their needs. This includes the roll out of Family Help, which is showing positive early impact. We will continue to monitor outcomes for children through our published children in need statistics.​The Families First for Children Pathfinder has also tested radical reforms in local areas, across family help, child protection, family networks and safeguarding partners.​The pathfinder draws on evidence and existing good practice, including from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme and the ten participating areas are reporting positive early impacts.​The department commissioned Ecorys and consortium to carry out process, impact and value-for-money evaluation of the Family Hubs transformation, home learning environment and parenting support programme elements of the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme which is ongoing. Findings should be available in early 2026.​Monitoring and evaluation will be a crucial component of the new Best Start Family Hubs. Planning is ongoing but we expect to include continue robust monitoring and evaluation, particularly looking at impact including on the impact on children from different backgrounds.

What assessment has she made of the potential impact of Best Start Family Hubs on (a) children’s development and (b) educational outcomes.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​As part of the ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’ publication, the department announced that each best start family hub will have a children and family services professional specifically trained in working to support parents of children with additional needs. This will help identify and support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who may need extra help early on, making links with local early years settings and health services.​Evidence suggests that early intervention through integrated family support services can boost early special educational needs (SEN) identification and academic performance. The Institute of Fiscal Studies published a study in May 2025, on the short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start, which best start family hubs will draw lessons from. This revealed Sure Start programmes significantly improved educational achievements of children up to age 16 and reduced the likelihood of children of ages 7 to 16 having a SEN support plan.​Speech, language and communication remain a core focus of home learning environment support, and the remit has broadened to enable a more holistic approach to early development. Several local authorities have introduced play co-ordinators in family hubs, trained to identify speech and language delays and support parents in promoting development at home.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Best Start Family Hubs on levels of father’s parenting skills.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.Best Start Family Hubs are backed by £500 million government investment and we have committed to rolling out hubs in all local authorities by 2028. They are expected to actively engage and support fathers through inclusive parenting support, peer networks and outreach. They must ensure services are accessible to dads, and others who are less likely to engage. Programme guidance sets specific expectations around the inclusion of dads in parenting and home learning environment programmes, infant feeding and perinatal mental health activities. Local authorities are encouraged to provide tailored groups for fathers and co-parents, both in person and virtually, to strengthen their involvement in early parenting and child development.​Many local authorities have established a strong offer for dads as part of their Family Hub models. We intend to maintain this focus on dads, and other seldom heard groups, in the new Best Start Family Hub programme.

What steps she is taking to ensure that (a) areas of rural poverty and (b) areas with concentrated pockets of deprivation can access new Best Start Family Hubs.

Best Start Family Hubs will prioritise delivery in areas of disadvantage, where families face the greatest barriers to support. The department will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to ensure that children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities can access it. These hubs will be open to all families to ensure services are both inclusive and targeted. As of March 2025, there are over 600 Family Hubs across the 88 currently funded local authorities, with up to 1000 hubs expected across the country by the end of 2028.We will provide funding to every local authority in England through the Best Start Family Hubs programme, to make sure that no parent needs to face the challenges of parenthood alone. This will include more funding to local authorities to deliver greater outreach to make sure no one misses out.

How many children from deprived communities will be able to access a new Best Start Family Hub by the end of the Parliament.

Best Start Family Hubs will prioritise delivery in areas of disadvantage, where families face the greatest barriers to support. The department will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to ensure that children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities can access it. These hubs will be open to all families to ensure services are both inclusive and targeted. As of March 2025, there are over 600 Family Hubs across the 88 currently funded local authorities, with up to 1000 hubs expected across the country by the end of 2028.We will provide funding to every local authority in England through the Best Start Family Hubs programme, to make sure that no parent needs to face the challenges of parenthood alone. This will include more funding to local authorities to deliver greater outreach to make sure no one misses out.

What steps she is taking to ensure that new Best Start Family Hubs will effectively (a) target and (b) reach out to the most disadvantaged families.

Best Start Family Hubs will prioritise delivery in areas of disadvantage, where families face the greatest barriers to support. The department will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to ensure that children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities can access it. These hubs will be open to all families to ensure services are both inclusive and targeted. As of March 2025, there are over 600 Family Hubs across the 88 currently funded local authorities, with up to 1000 hubs expected across the country by the end of 2028.We will provide funding to every local authority in England through the Best Start Family Hubs programme, to make sure that no parent needs to face the challenges of parenthood alone. This will include more funding to local authorities to deliver greater outreach to make sure no one misses out.

Whether she plans to ringfence funding associated with the (a) establishment and (b) operation of new Best Start Family Hubs.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, is the cornerstone of the government’s Opportunity Mission.The funding mechanism for Best Start Family Hubs will be announced in due course.

How many former Sure Start children’s centres have (a) closed and (b) reduced services so that they no longer meet the statutory criteria of a children’s centre since 2011.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.Data on the number of Sure Start children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools database portal, which can be accessed here: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.​Based on information supplied by local authorities, 779 children’s centres have closed since 2011. Local authorities have converted a further 686 children’s centres into ‘children’s centre linked sites’. These are formerly children's centres in their own right, but they no longer meet the statutory definition of a children’s centre. They offer some early childhood services on behalf of another children's centre.​These figures are based on information supplied by local authorities as at 2 September 2025. These figures could change again in future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.

Whether she has considered commissioning (a) medium- and (b) long-term studies to monitor the effectiveness of Best Start Family Hubs.

Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.Monitoring and evaluation will be a crucial component of the programme from the beginning. Planning is ongoing, but we expect it to include continue robust monitoring and evaluation.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Best Start Family Hubs on local availability of high-quality childcare.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.Our Best Start in Life Strategy outlines how the department plans to invest close to £1.5 billion over the next three years on the early years and family services. This includes over £500 million to roll out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority in England, and over £600 million on early years education and reception. We will also spend almost £370 million over the next four years to deliver school-based nurseries across England.​In the 2025 Spending Review, the government announced it will provide an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to 2025/26, to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents, boosting children’s life chances and work choices for their parents. This increase in funding reflects the expansion of childcare for eligible working parents to 30 hours and expected increases to funding rates across the spending review period.

What lessons her Department has learned from the preceding roll out of (a) Sure Start Sure Start Local Programmes and (b) Sure Start Children’s Centres.

​​Ensuring every child has the best start in life, the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.​Research by the Institute of Fiscal Studies has shown that access to Sure Start local programmes and Sure Start children’s centres in early life generated widespread, long-lasting benefits, improving children’s health and educational outcomes and reducing the prevalence of identified special education needs and disabilities (SEND). Building on these lessons, we are strengthening the early years system through Best Start Family Hubs to provide essential support for parents, improve health, education, and wellbeing, and offer a single access point for services, including a digital offer, targeted in the places we know will make the most impact.