This week Chancellor Rishi Sunak MP commended Fiona Bruce for her campaign over many years for funding to strengthen family life and in particular for Family Hubs.
Fiona has spoken many times in the House of Commons (see for example, in 2018 a debate on a she called on Family Hubs and in 2020 a debate on Support for Children and Families) asked dozens of questions of Ministers, and met with successive Ministers to press them to put money into strengthening family life.
Fiona said on the Budget announcement this week “I am delighted that the Chancellor is investing over half a billion pounds into strengthening family life. This is more than I ever could have hoped for when I entered Parliament with this as a priority in 2010.
Fiona continued “At each of the elections I have stood on in Congleton – 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019 – I have put out a statement of my values – still on my website – and the first is “Families matter – strong, stable families are the heart of a healthy nation.
Family Hubs, a place in each community where everyone can go for help – and at some stage in every family’s life we all need it – provide a broad level of support, for example with advice on debt, job searching, relationship counselling, parenting or care for elderly relatives, and much more.
They are a far cry from the old and in many parts of the country often unsuccessful Sure Starts which were limited in support just for families with children from 0 – 5 years. Family Hubs provide help for 0 – 19 years and 0 – 25 years if a child has Special Educational Needs – and, as of course many families don’t have children, help for them is included too.
Also, distinctively from the old Sure Starts, Family Hubs are a partnership between local statutory and voluntary services – boosting the capacity of both. Family Hubs are popular – they are there for everyone and most of us could benefit from the “no stigma” help Family Hubs offer at some pressure point in life!
Family Hubs can be based anywhere locally accessible – a library, school building, repurposed community centre, church, even a vacant former high street store! Over the past few years since I have been campaigning for Family Hubs, and with some initial seed funding from the Government, their numbers have grown from 5 to over 150 all around the country; I am delighted that with this additional substantial funding many more can be set up and I hope to see more than one dedicated Family Hub soon in the Cheshire East area!”
Speaking in the Budget debate the Chancellor stated “We are responding today with £300 million for a start for life offer for families; high-quality parenting programmes; tailored services to help with perinatal mental health; and, I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce), funding to create a network of family hubs around the country too. To improve the quality of childcare, we are going to pay providers more, with today’s spending review providing an extra £170 million by 2024-25. We are confirming £150 million to support training and development for the entire early years workforce. To help up to 300,000 more families facing multiple needs, we are investing an extra £200 million in the supporting families programme, and we will provide over £200 million a year to continue the holiday activities and food programme.”