A Hampshire MP is calling for military families to be placed at the forefront of the Government’s new Best Start Family Hubs scheme.
Alex Baker, the Labour MP for Aldershot and Farnborough, published a report with eight recommendations for Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP.
These aim to ensure that military families receive the utmost support from the 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs to be established by 2028.
The hubs, which aim to support families with children, will provide services from breastfeeding to emotional wellbeing.
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The Government's initiative builds on the success of the Sure Start centres, which research has shown improved health outcomes and helped thousands of children achieve better GCSE results.
Following the announcement of the Best Start Hubs, Ms Baker launched a consultation exercise with military families.
This provided her with a unique insight into the challenges faced by the Armed Forces community.
The challenges include frequent moves, deployments, separations and other pressures of military service, making access to consistent support with health, social care, and education difficult.
Ms Baker, an advocate for the Armed Forces Covenant, said: "Best Start Family Hubs are an incredibly exciting prospect, but I am aware that military families can find services like these ill-equipped to meet their unique needs or to offer consistent support across the country.
"So, I have gathered the experiences of parents in service families and compiled a series of recommendations to make sure that the Best Start Hubs recognise the additional challenges these families face and are able to meet their needs.
"It’s vitally important for the nation that we ensure that health, social care and education work together so that children from military families genuinely do get the very best start in life."
Her report, titled Forces Families deserve the Best Start, includes practical recommendations such as asking every family visiting a hub if they are from a military family and introducing universal training for hub staff on the common challenges faced by military families.
Other recommendations include establishing a dedicated military champion in every hub, ensuring flexible and hybrid services that meet the needs of families facing relocation, and planning for a surge in demand for support for military families during large deployments.
Ms Baker will meet the Education Secretary in October to discuss these recommendations directly.
