Member

As my noble friend Lord Farmer also said, Amendments 179 to 183 would ensure that families are given up-to-date information about the support on offer in their areas and that the guidance to local authorities is statutory, with an annual report published by the Secretary of State giving a national overview of not only what support is on offer but its impact. As we have commented a number of times during these debates, having a newborn, a young baby or a toddler is a challenging time for almost every family, however much joy it also brings, so it seems obtuse not to ensure that those families have the easiest possible access to information about the support services available to them. Then, it is up to them to decide whether they want to use them or not. Similarly, why would the Secretary of State not want to have an annual picture of the scale and impact of Start for Life and early years support, including the family hubs? My noble friend has politely probed the Government, asking them to clarify their focus in the Start for Life programme, and I hope very much the Minister can give him a clear answer.