Reports

Family Hubs present one of the most promising avenues for strengthening early identification and safeguarding. When delivered well, they create spaces where families can build trusting relationships with practitioners, where professionals can work side by side, and where information can flow more effectively between services. Yet the picture across the country remains varied. Differences in local models and practice mean families do not always experience the same level of integrated support, and staff do not always have access to the same clarity of pathways or expectations. The rollout of Best Start Family Hubs represents a timely and valuable opportunity to address this variation and embed consistent foundations for safeguarding from pregnancy through the first years of life.

We welcome the Government’s announced expansion of the Family Hub network to one in each local authority. The Government must go further and ensure there is access to Family Hubs in every community, backed by long-term funding. This expansion must prioritise equity, with clear targets for reaching families with the greatest need and roles dedicated to supporting parents of children with additional needs.

The UK Government has issued guidance for Family Hubs. The guidance is designed to help local authorities provide Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies services from April 2026.

Dr Samantha Callan, Director of the Family Hubs Network, told the Committee that integrating the CMS with Family Hubs would help “’take the sting’ out of early and adversarial emotional separation issues” which could “help cultivate a set of circumstances conducive to stable maintenance arrangements”.

Family hubs provide integrated family services and support for families with children and young people aged 0-19 years (0-25 years for SEND) but to be effective they need fami lies to access and engage with the services on offer. There is evidence that disadvan taged and vulnerable families are less likely to access the services despite being in the most need. The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned this research to support the development and evaluation of behavioural science interventions designed to pro mote the uptake of services delivered by family hubs. This report details the evaluation of those interventions.

This report suggests that Family Hubs should be part of our efforts to improve prospects for current generations of children and young people. Their strength lies in their holistic approach to support: providing a one-stop source of information and services for parents and their children, from the earliest years.