Healthy Start Scheme
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider increasing the value of Healthy Start vouchers for children from birth to one year old to meet the average cost of baby formula.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Healthy Start is a demand-led, statutory scheme and aims to support those in greatest need. An assessment was recently made of the adequacy of the value of Healthy Start funding and it was announced in Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan that we will uplift the value of weekly payments by 10%, boosting the ability to buy healthy food for those families who need it most. From April 2026, pregnant women and children aged over one and under four years old will each receive £4.65 per week, up from £4.25, and children under one years old will receive £9.30 per week, up from £8.50.
The funding for Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen, or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried, and tinned pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries are also eligible for free Healthy Start Vitamins.
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