Decision ref
0037 2025/26
Decision date
03/09/2025
Portfolio
Adult Social Care and Health
Wards
All wards
Title
Extension of a contract with St Helens Well Being Service.
Summary
Permission is sought to extend contract to St Helens Well Being Service from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026, for the delivery of an extended infant feeding offer funded by Family Hubs.
Purpose
Permission is sought to extend contract to St Helens Well Being Service from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026, for the delivery of an extended infant feeding offer funded by Family Hubs.
St Helens is one of 75 local authorities identified for Family Hub funding. A key area of priority for Family Hubs, as set out by the Department for Education, is to increase support to be available to all parents and carers as part of the universal Start for Life offer, including practical help with infant feeding and early diagnosis of issues. Family Hubs funding will be used to increase capacity in St Helens Wellbeing Service, to deliver on the identified outcomes.
St Helens Well Being service have successfully delivered an enhanced infant feeding offer, as part of Family Hubs delivery. Infant feeding rates have steadily increased and positive feedback has been received from those families who have received support and involved professionals. There is further work to be done in this area priority, which will be informed by the wide-ranging community consultation that has taken place and is due to be published by the end of May 2025.
The initial findings of the wide ranging consultation identify a number of barriers for St Helens families in making the choice to or continue to breast feed. Evidence tells us breast feeding is one of the cornerstones to a best start in life, supporting both the babies physical and emotional health, as well as the mothers.
Family Hubs funding has supported further development of the infant feeding offer. St Helens Wellbeing Service have in place an Infant Feeding Coordinator and 4 Infant Feeding Workers, who provide support to families ante and postnatally. They are in a unique position to provide support in this area of work. The request is to extend the service offer for a further 12 months from the 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026, now that Family Hubs funding has been confirmed for a further 12 months.
The additional resource will enable facilitation of the Community BFI / UNICEF standards and training.
Their role will co-ordinate the implementation of the UNICEF baby friendly guidelines in the St Helens Community to achieve accreditation for St Helens Family Hubs, working in conjunction with Maternity, Primary Care and other key stakeholders including other health related agencies, Family Hub and Children’s Centres, local authority and the community and voluntary sector.
To monitor, performance manage and evaluate Breastfeeding and Infant Feeding targets and initiatives, and the UNICEF baby friendly guidelines and ongoing recommendations, reporting on progress to a range of stakeholders, including, service delivery teams, partnership planning groups and the local authority as appropriate.
The service will work with partners to address barriers to infant feeding, progressing the Family Welcome Pledge, in Council buildings, community settings and places where families visit and should be made welcome. Also to establish a voluntary ‘ Peer to Peer’ voluntary element of the service.
Background
Background
St Helens faces challenges in relation to deprivation and is ranked as the 26th most deprived local authority in England (St Helens Borough Council, 2021). Deprivation in St Helens is widespread, with particularly high levels across the south and east of the borough. Census data reveals that over half of 0–5-year-olds in St Helens live in the 20% more deprived areas nationally (deciles 1 and 2).
Despite, the high levels of vulnerability and health inequalities - St Helens has been praised for its joint, integrated commissioning and delivery of care. St Helens is 1 of the 75 boroughs in the UK chosen for ‘Best Start for Life’ (BSFL) DfE funding which will support families via the delivery of community Family Hubs, to give our youngest of children (0-5) ‘the best start in life’.
The Best Start for Life: A Vision for the 1,001 Critical Days, Government’s Early Years Healthy Development Review recognised that many parents and carers struggle with breast feeding and that different mothers and babies have different needs. The review consequently set out a vision for breast feeding support to be available to all parents and carers as part of the universal Start for Life offer, including practical help with breast feeding, early diagnosis of issues such as tongue-tie, and help with formula feeding where that is more appropriate. The DfE have identified 18.6% of St Helens Family Hub funding to address infant feeding need in the borough
The continued delivery of the enhanced infant feeding offer model of care is in line with St Helens pathways of care, community Family Hubs/Children Centres and the development of the new Families First programme development.
Family Hub funding will support further development of the infant feeding offer. Within the existing team of the Wellbeing Service an Infant Feeding Coordinator and 4 Infant Feeding Workers have been recruited to meet the requirements of the service delivery.
Conclusion
In conclusion we would want to progress with the continued commissioning of the Enhanced Infant Feeding Service, which is a fundamental element of the St Helens Family Hub delivery model.
Risk Implications
The recommendation is to fund the Enhanced Infant Feeding Service for a further 12 months, using Family Hubs funding specifically identified for infant feeding. Should the funding not be agreed there are a number of risk implications, the first being risk of funding claw back and reputational damage.
The current Enhanced Infant Feeding Service has supported the increase in breast feeding rates in St Helens significantly. We know from national research eight out of ten women stop breast feeding before they want due to lack of support.
Funding is currently a combination of Public Health and Family Hub grants. Family Hubs funding is currently only confirmed until March 2026.
Services that are not directly funded by the Family Hub programme should continue to be funded through existing funding streams such as core grants and other programme funding. There is an expectation Family Hubs funding will be utilised to add value to existing funding and programmes, the above proposal reflects this.
There are known significant health challenges in the borough for babies, children and into adulthood. Breast feeding is known to protect children from a vast range of illnesses, including infection, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, as well as cot death (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), as well as obesity, a major public health priority. For mothers, breast feeding protects against breast and ovarian cancers and heart disease. In addition, it supports the mother-baby relationship and the mental health of both baby and mother.
Some parents and carers report they have not received support to initiate and continue to breast feed. The Enhanced Infant Feeding Service has provided increased infant feeding support to St Helens families., should this support not be in place there is likely to be a negative impact for St Helens families expecting a baby, as there will be less support available to initiate and continue to breast feed.
Measures to Redress Risk
In order to increase breast feeding rates we are taking a whole system approach needs to be taken, considering information received about the benefits of breast feeding, prior to conception, during pregnancy and following the babies birth. Infant feeding has remained a key priority for Family Hubs into year 4 of the programme.
Utilising this funding for any purpose other than delivering the Family Hub model could therefore result in a reduction in the ability to make a long term positive impact on young children’s outcomes and undermine the need to implement a robust demand reduction strategy.
Breast feeding is known to protect children from a vast range of illnesses, including infection, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, as well as cot death (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), as well as obesity, a major public health priority.
For mothers, breast feeding protects against breast and ovarian cancers and heart disease.
Insights work is underway and consideration has been given as to how land messages most effectively. It is intended that engagement activities will not just focus on parents but also their support people.
Antenatal education programmes incorporate information in respect of breast feeding to support parents making informed choices.
Declarations Of Interest
None
Equality Impact Assessment
Download
More information
Please contact Vicky Velasco on 01744 673488
