Giving children the best start in life

Today, we have welcomed the publication of the Government’s Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life strategy. The strategy outlines how parents in England will benefit from a new plan to improve the quality, affordability and accessibility of early years education and boost children’s life chances.

Responding to the strategy, Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, ADPH Co-Lead for Children and Young People and DPH for Lancashire, said:

“Every child has a right to – and benefits from – the very best start in life so that they have the basic building blocks in place to develop into happy and healthy individuals. Providing early support for families is an essential part of making this happen and makes a big difference not just for individual families, but also for creating healthy communities and ultimately, for the economy as a whole.

“Currently, many families are without this vital early support and so well-resourced and targeted local interventions, including these extra 1000 Family Hubs, is key to reversing the unfair and worsening trends we are seeing in our children’s declining health, and addressing inequalities.

“The pilot family hubs created and encouraged an environment for collaboration between children’s services and public health, and Directors of Public Health across England are looking forward to working in partnership to fully establish the benefits of this expansion. However, it is important that the upcoming child poverty strategy is developed and implemented in tandem, so that all children are given the best start in life now and in the future.”