In my last column, I highlighted that one of the most important pledges that I made in the election campaign of 2019 was to focus on both education and children and families. I also wrote about the importance of academic and technical education and the extra funding that schools in Hastings and Rye will be receiving through the Education Investment Area and Priority Education Investment Area designations. This week I will be focusing my comments on families.
I find it sad to see our society not placing enough value on family life and the key role of the family unit – in whatever form a family might take. The family is the most important unit in society and in my view its bedrock. A family is where children should be shown and taught love, moral values in human life, cultural and spiritual heritage, empathy, tolerance, sharing, as well as basic manners. Decades of not placing proper value on the family has led to a devaluation of the family unit and the subsequent weakening of the social fabric of local communities across our United Kingdom.
Along with a number of like-minded colleagues in Westminster, I have consistently petitioned the Government to adopt the Strengthening Families Manifesto along with a funding package, and I am delighted that it has committed to strengthening families by adopting the Manifesto and investing in Family Hubs and the Start for Life package. In October 2021, the Government announced over £300 million to transform Start for Life and Family Hub services in 75 upper tier local authorities across England. During the last two years, I have also urged East Sussex County Council to set up a family hub in Hastings and Rye and, again, I am delighted that the excellent new Director of Children’s Services successfully applied for an innovative network of such hubs across East Sussex under the new scheme. The programme will fund a network of Family Hubs, Start for Life, and family help services, including parenting programmes, breastfeeding services, and parent-infant mental health support. Thousands of local babies, children, and families will benefit from this package which will improve access to support, advice, and services from birth to adulthood.
As a former magistrate, I have unfortunately witnessed the adverse effects of family breakdown and could see the need to focus on early intervention and prevention where more families have the opportunity able to access help and support within their communities before they reach crisis point. There is overwhelming evidence that providing families with a stable relationship and a consistent keyworker or mentor greatly improves their chances of providing a decent and stable environment for children to grow up in. Through the Family Hubs, and via the Supporting Families programme, thousands of the most vulnerable families will receive help from a dedicated keyworker who can offer practical assistance such as hands-on parenting support. Evidence from those who have already been supported by the programme shows that young people are 38% less likely to end up in prison and 32% less likely to end up in care. There is now a broad agreement that supporting families to prevent crisis is better for them, as well as cheaper for the Government. There is nothing shameful about struggling to bring up our children and it is important for parents to be able to ask for and access the support many need.
Families have always been at the heart of my plan for Hastings and Rye, and I am delighted, actually somewhat relieved, that they are at the heart of this Government's agenda too. Family hubs will help families access vital services by offering localised early help and intervention from early years to adulthood. I am aware of the concerns raised with me as regards long-term funding and I will continue to lobby Government Departments to put preventative spending on a long-term and sustainable footing. Families are not just important – they are everything and we all need them.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/infants-children-and-families-to-benefit-from-boost-in-support
