This week on Political Sandbox we have the Rt. Hon Dame Andrea Leadsom, the Government’s Early Years Health Adviser speaking with Andrea King, Director of Clinical Division at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.
They discuss the Government’s new ‘Family Hubs’ policy as the Chancellor has set aside £12m over the next two years in November for the transformation of existing local authority services to the ‘Family Hub’ model. These family hubs will have to be opened by March 2024.
In the interview Andrea Leadsom discusses the effects of the pandemic on families, Family Hubs and their role in start of life services, how services can reach diverse communities and the long term impact of good start of life services.
She said: “I think Family Hubs will be the linchpin of all start of life services, and for me what that means is they’ve got to be universal, open access, open long hours and they’ve got to draw everybody in”.