Thousands of families to be offered parenting help and advice through new local ‘family hubs’

Thousands of families across England will be offered parenting help, from infant feeding to mental health and relationships through “family hubs”.

The hubs will be rolled out across communities, handing support from conception through to age 19, or up to 25 for children with special education needs and disabilities.

The government said the £300 million programme will benefit 75 local authorities up to 2025, with each receiving a share of the £82 million for Family Hub development.

Family hubs will act as a “one-stop shop” to offer guidance and advice on several issues including infant feeding, mental health support, health visits and parenting classes.

They will also offer advice on getting into work, relationship building and stop smoking services, as well as providing early language and communication development for young children to prepare them for school at the age of five.

A parenting programme has praised the move, saying “the 75 family hub areas are a brilliant start” and will help “alleviate the increasing pressures faced by parents and young people.”

‘These hubs will provide a judgement-free space for parents’

Fourteen local authority areas will become “trailblazers” and receive extra funding in order to fast-track delivery of services.

Children, Families and Wellbeing Minister Claire Coutinho said: “Having children can be really tough as well as bringing so much joy. All families, from time to time, will need a helping hand.

“Family hubs bring services together helping parents, carers, children and young people to access the support they need more easily. Parenting advice ranges from support with breast feeding and mental health to guidance on how to give children a head start on their learning.”

Matt Buttery, CEO of parenting programme provider Triple P UK and Ireland, said he is “delighted” at the move.

He said: “We are delighted that more sites will receive transformation funding, alongside some excellent trailblazer areas. It is now critical for the hubs to get up and running across the UK as soon as possible, to alleviate the increasing pressures faced by parents and young people.

“The cost-of-living crisis and the aftermath of the pandemic have taken their toll on the mental health of young people and the sooner they can access more support, the better. By offering a range of joined up services such as infant feeding, mental health support and parenting programmes like Triple P, these hubs will provide a judgement-free space for parents to get additional help and improve outcomes for babies through to teens.

“The 75 family hub areas are a brilliant start, and we hope their success will lead to an even wider roll-out across all local authorities.”

Which local authorities are set to have a Family Hub?

• Barking and Dagenham
• Barnsley
• Bedford Borough
• Birmingham
• Blackburn with Darwen
• Blackpool
• Bolton
• Bradford
• Brent
• Bristol
• Calderdale
• Camden
• Cornwall
• Coventry
• Croydon
• Derby
• Doncaster
• Dudley
• Durham
• East Sussex
• Enfield
• Gateshead
• Greenwich
• Hackney
• Halton
• Haringey
• Hartlepool
• Hounslow
• Isle of Wight
• Islington
• Kent
• Kingston Upon Hull
• Knowsley
• Lambeth
• Leicester
• Lewisham
• Lincolnshire
• Liverpool
• Luton
• Manchester
• Medway
• Middlesbrough
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• Newham
• Norfolk
• North East Lincolnshire
• North Lincolnshire
• North Northamptonshire
• Northumberland
• Nottingham
• Oldham
• Peterborough
• Plymouth
• Portsmouth
• Redcar
• Cleveland
• Rochdale
• Rotherham
• Salford
• Sandwell
• Sheffield
• South Tyneside
• Southampton
• Southwark
• St. Helens
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Sunderland
• Tameside
• Telford and Wrekin
• Thurrock
• Torbay
• Tower Hamlets
• Wakefield
• Walsall
• Waltham Forest
• Wolverhampton