Cost of living: Calderdale could get £3m to help families with parenting classes and feeding advice

The borough has been picked to receive a share of almost £302 million as part of the Government’s Start for Life programme.

According to the Government website, the hubs will help families access support including parenting classes and infant feeding advice, as well as support for domestic abuse or substance misuse.

Calderdale Council has heard hopes the borough could get around £3m.

The borough has been chosen for the Government scheme because it has high levels of deprivation in some areas.

Calderdale Council Cabinet member for Children and Young People’s Services, Coun Adam Wilkinson, told councillors: “Family hubs are a way of joining up locally to improve access to services and can have physical and virtual offers, with services for families with children of all ages and a great ‘start to life’ offer at their core,” he reported to a meeting of the full council.

The council should learn in September what its share of the funding will be.

The council’s consultant in public health, Ben Leaman, has told scrutiny councillors there might potentially be around £3 million in the pot for Calderdale.

There are three main goals – better connection of services, making a single point of access available and ensuring services are more relationship centred, building on families’ strengths.

Three phases of the project should see getting the business case bid in by October 31, delivering it between November and March 31, 2025, and sustaining it from April 2025.

Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Board Chair Coun Ashley Evans (Lib Dem, Warley) said it was an important project the council must ensure happens.

Co-ordination would be key to cement improvements into place after March 2025, he said.

Coun Evans said it was disappointing that the process would see the larger amount of money concentrated on children’s first year even though it was signalled it could benefit those up to age 25.

Mr Leaman said a lot was already being done for all age groups, additional funding was always helpful and creative working could see things done for children’s first year that would impact on their lives for years ahead.