The value of the Healthy Start scheme needs to increase by 20 per cent to compensate for increases in the cost of food, new LGA analysis has found.
The scheme, which operates in England and Wales, helps pregnant women or families with children under the age of four with the cost of food and milk. It was last reviewed in 2020.
The LGA found that support for families with a baby under the age of one should rise from £8.50 a week to £10.47, and warned the current scheme does not meet the average price of any available first infant formula milk.
Support for families with a baby between the ages of one and four should rise from £4.25 to £5.24 a week.
Councils have been working hard to promote the scheme locally, with uptake in England up 7 per cent since the start of 2023, to 70 per cent.
However, 141,970 eligible pregnant women, babies and infants missed out on the scheme in October alone, equivalent to the entire population of Blackpool.
Families who have less confidence managing money, or those who cannot speak English well or at all, are less likely to be taking advantage of Healthy Start.
The LGA wants the scheme to expand to include all children facing food insecurity and poverty, and for its value to be reviewed every six months.
Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Healthy Start is a vitally important programme that has helped families get access to healthy and affordable food since it was established nearly 20 years ago.
“However, it has not kept pace with rising food inflation and does not fully meet the value of essential items such as baby formula.”
