Guidance

Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies: guidance for local authorities

How local authorities should implement Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies services.

• From: Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care
• Published: 4 December 2025
• Last updated: 18 June 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 18 June 2026

     Updated 'Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies: parenting and home learning environment menu of interventions' to reflect evidence-based interventions approved through the EBI exemption process.

  2. 12 June 2026

     Updated the ‘guidance for local authorities’ document to include local authority names in case studies.

  3. 30 March 2026

     Added ‘Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies: guidance for local authorities’, ‘Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies: wider service expectations’ and ‘Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies: parenting and home learning environment menu of interventions’.

  4. 4 December 2025

     First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies: guidance for local authorities

PDF, 732 KB, 81 pages

Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies: wider services expectations

PDF, 366 KB, 34 pages

Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies: parenting and home learning environment menu of interventions

HTML

Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies: preparing for implementation from April 2026

PDF, 493 KB, 18 pages

Details

Guidance to help local authorities provide Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies services from April 2026.

It includes:

• a strategic overview and vision for transformed family services
• detailed delivery expectations
• information on reporting and implementation support
• guidance on preparing for implementation