What Are Family Hubs? A Complete Guide

Family Hubs are a central part of the UK government's strategy to transform how families access support services. They bring together a wide range of help for families with children and young people aged 0 to 19 (or up to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities) into a single, connected network of services.

TL;DR: Family Hubs are local authority-led centres that integrate health, education, parenting, and welfare services into one accessible network. Backed by over £300 million in government funding, they represent the most significant restructuring of family support in England since Sure Start. Over 75 local authorities across England are now delivering Family Hub programmes, supported by the Start for Life initiative.

What you'll learn: What Family Hubs are, what services they provide, and how they fit into the government's vision for family support.

Key context: How Family Hubs differ from the children's centres they often replace, and what this means for local authorities and families.

Practical implications: What the programme means for service delivery, data collection, and reporting.

The Government's Family Hubs Programme

The Family Hubs programme was formally launched by the Department for Education (DfE) as part of a commitment to improve outcomes for children and families across England. The programme builds on recommendations from the Andrea Leadsom review of early years health and the 2021 policy paper The Best Start for Life.

Origin and Funding: The government committed over £300 million to the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, initially targeting 75 local authorities in England with the highest levels of deprivation. This funding covers the establishment and transformation of Family Hub networks, workforce development, and digital infrastructure.

National Ambition: The long-term vision extends beyond the initial 75 authorities. The government aims for every local authority in England to adopt a Family Hub model, creating a nationwide network of integrated family support. As of 2025, all 75 funded authorities have established or are actively developing their Family Hub networks.

Policy Framework: Family Hubs sit within a broader policy context that includes the Children and Families Act, the Health and Care Act, and SEND reforms. They represent a "whole-family" approach to support that cuts across traditional departmental boundaries.

Family Hubs are not just buildings — they are a model for connected, accessible, and proactive family support.

What Services Do Family Hubs Offer?

Family Hubs provide a wide range of services, organised around the needs of families rather than the structures of government. Services span from pre-birth through to young adulthood.

Start for Life Services (0-2 years)

The Start for Life element focuses on the critical first 1,001 days of a child's life, from conception to age two.

Infant Feeding Support: Breastfeeding and infant nutrition guidance, including peer support programmes and specialist lactation consultants.

Perinatal Mental Health: Screening, support, and signposting for parents experiencing mental health difficulties during pregnancy and the postnatal period.

Parent-Infant Relationships: Programmes that strengthen bonding and attachment, including video interaction guidance and therapeutic support.

Home Learning Environment: Resources and guidance to help parents create stimulating home environments that support early development.

Research shows that investment in the first 1,001 days delivers some of the highest returns of any public spending, with every £1 invested returning up to £13 in long-term savings.

Universal Services (0-19 years)

These services are available to all families, regardless of need.

Health Visiting and School Nursing: Mandated health checks, developmental assessments, and health promotion delivered through the Healthy Child Programme.

Parenting Support: Evidence-based parenting programmes covering behaviour management, communication, and family relationships.

Childcare and Early Education: Information and guidance on accessing funded early education places, including the expanded entitlement to 30 hours for working parents.

Youth Services: Activities, mentoring, and support for young people, including transitions planning and employability programmes.

Targeted and Specialist Services

For families with additional needs, Family Hubs provide or coordinate access to more intensive support.

SEND Support: Early identification, assessment, and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. According to DfE data, around 1.6 million pupils in England have identified SEN.

Domestic Abuse Services: Referral pathways, safety planning, and therapeutic support for families affected by domestic abuse.

Family Conflict and Separation: Mediation services, co-parenting support, and reducing parental conflict programmes.

Financial and Housing Support: Benefits advice, debt counselling, and housing support, often delivered in partnership with third-sector organisations.

The breadth of services means Family Hubs must manage complex booking, registration, and reporting across dozens of service types — a significant operational challenge.

How Family Hubs Work in Practice

Family Hubs operate as a network rather than a single building. Each local authority designs its network to fit local geography and need.

The Hub-and-Spoke Model

Main Hub: A central building offering a wide range of services, drop-in access, and a welcoming space for families. Most authorities designate 1-3 main hubs.

Spoke Sites: Satellite locations in community buildings, schools, GP surgeries, or libraries where specific services are delivered. A typical authority might operate 10-20 spoke sites.

Virtual Hub: Online and telephone-based services, including digital booking, virtual consultations, and information portals. The government's Family Hub digital framework encourages a strong virtual presence.

Outreach: Mobile and outreach provision that takes services to where families are, particularly in rural or hard-to-reach areas.

Who Delivers Services?

Family Hubs are led by local authorities but involve a wide range of partners.

Local Authority Teams: Children's services, public health, early years, and youth services staff.

NHS Partners: Health visitors, midwives, school nurses, and mental health practitioners, typically commissioned through Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).

Voluntary and Community Sector: Charities and community groups delivering specialist services, peer support, and activities. Many Family Hubs rely heavily on voluntary sector partners.

Education Providers: Schools, nurseries, and childminders contributing to the early years and education offer.

Managing this multi-agency workforce requires robust systems for coordination, data sharing, and reporting. Platforms like Plinth help local authorities bring this complexity under control.

Family Hubs vs Children's Centres

Family Hubs build on the legacy of Sure Start Children's Centres but differ in important ways. Understanding these differences matters for both practitioners and families.

Wider Age Range: The most obvious difference is that Family Hubs serve families with children of all ages, not just the under-fives. This reflects evidence that family support needs do not stop at school entry.

Network Model: Where children's centres were primarily single buildings, Family Hubs operate as connected networks. This aims to reach more families, including those who might not visit a physical centre.

Stronger Data Requirements: The government has introduced a national data collection framework for Family Hubs that goes well beyond what was expected of children's centres. Local authorities must report on service uptake, demographics, and outcomes against national indicators.

Digital Integration: Family Hubs are expected to have a significant digital presence, including online booking, virtual consultations, and data-sharing between partners. Children's centres largely predated this expectation.

Many local authorities have converted existing children's centres into Family Hub main sites or spokes, preserving physical assets while expanding the service model.

The Start for Life Programme

Start for Life is a specific component within the Family Hubs programme, focused on the earliest years.

What Start for Life Covers

Six Core Services: The programme mandates delivery of six interconnected services: perinatal mental health, infant feeding, parenting support, home learning environment, parent-infant relationships, and family support through the local authority.

Workforce Development: Funding supports training and recruitment of specialist staff, including infant feeding specialists and perinatal mental health practitioners.

Communications: Each funded authority must deliver a local Start for Life communications campaign, ensuring families know what support is available.

Data and Evaluation: Start for Life services have specific data collection requirements, feeding into national evaluation of the programme's effectiveness.

Why the First 1,001 Days Matter

The scientific case for early investment is well-established. Brain development is most rapid in the first two years of life, with over one million neural connections forming every second.

Health Outcomes: Children who receive good early support have better physical and mental health outcomes throughout life. Centre for Mental Health/LSE research estimates that perinatal mental health problems cost the UK economy £8.1 billion per year.

Educational Attainment: Early language and learning environments strongly predict later educational success. By age three, children from disadvantaged backgrounds can be 18 months behind their peers in language development.

Economic Returns: Analysis by the Early Intervention Foundation suggests that the cost of late intervention in England is over £17 billion per year. Effective early support is far cheaper than crisis response.

Start for Life represents the government's recognition that the earliest years are when support has the greatest impact — and that this support must be proactively offered, not passively available.

Digital Infrastructure and Software

Running a Family Hub network effectively requires robust digital infrastructure. The diversity of services, partners, and reporting requirements makes manual management impractical at scale.

What Local Authorities Need

Booking and Registration: Families need to find and book services easily, whether online, by phone, or in person. Systems must handle multiple service types, locations, and providers.

Data Collection and Reporting: The national data framework requires structured collection of demographic data, service uptake, and outcomes. This must be aggregated across the hub network and reported to the DfE.

Partner Coordination: With multiple organisations delivering services, systems must support appropriate data sharing, referral pathways, and joint working.

Performance Management: Hub managers need dashboards showing service utilisation, waiting times, demographic reach, and outcome indicators.

Plinth provides purpose-built software for Family Hubs, covering booking, registration, data collection, and reporting in a single integrated platform. Local authorities including Westminster, Bristol, and Hammersmith & Fulham use Plinth to manage their Family Hub programmes.

Common Challenges

Fragmented Systems: Many authorities start with different systems for different services, leading to duplicated data entry and gaps in reporting.

Data Sharing Agreements: Multi-agency working requires clear information sharing protocols, particularly when health and social care data is involved.

Digital Inclusion: Not all families can access digital services, so systems must support multiple access channels.

Reporting Burden: Balancing government reporting requirements with the capacity of frontline staff to collect data without it dominating their time with families.

Purpose-built platforms reduce these challenges by providing a single system designed around Family Hub workflows rather than forcing hubs to adapt generic tools.

Funding and Sustainability

Understanding the funding landscape helps local authorities plan for the long term.

Current Funding

Transformation Funding: The initial £300 million commitment covers the period from 2022-2025, supporting 75 local authorities to establish or enhance their Family Hub networks.

Start for Life Funding: Specific allocations within the programme fund the six core Start for Life services, including workforce and communications.

Supplementary Funding: Some authorities access additional funding through public health grants, NHS partnerships, and charitable trusts.

Sustainability Questions

Beyond Initial Funding: As transformation funding comes to an end, authorities must plan how to sustain services. This typically involves mainstreaming successful approaches into core budgets.

Efficiency Through Technology: Digital platforms that reduce administrative burden help authorities do more with constrained budgets. Automated reporting and streamlined booking free up staff time for direct work with families.

Evidence for Investment: Robust data collection demonstrates impact, which strengthens the case for continued funding from both central and local government.

The authorities best placed for long-term sustainability are those investing in efficient systems and strong evidence of impact from the outset.

FAQs

Are Family Hubs the same as Sure Start?

No, though they share some DNA. Sure Start Children's Centres focused on children under five and were primarily building-based. Family Hubs cover 0-19 years (up to 25 with SEND), operate as hub-and-spoke networks including virtual services, and have stronger data and reporting requirements. Many Family Hubs have been established in former children's centre buildings, but the service model is broader and more integrated.

Do all local authorities have Family Hubs?

Not yet. The initial government programme funded 75 local authorities, selected based on deprivation levels. However, the government's ambition is for all local authorities to adopt the Family Hub model. Some unfunded authorities have established their own Family Hub networks using existing resources.

How are Family Hubs funded?

The 75 programme authorities received shares of over £300 million in transformation funding. This covers hub establishment, Start for Life services, workforce development, and digital infrastructure. Longer-term, authorities are expected to sustain services through core budgets, public health funding, and partnerships.

What data do Family Hubs need to collect?

The DfE has published a national data collection framework covering service uptake, demographic information, and outcomes. Authorities must report on who is accessing services, service volumes, and progress against national indicators. This requires structured data systems — platforms like Plinth are designed to meet these requirements.

Can families access Family Hub services online?

Yes. The Family Hub model includes a virtual element, and many authorities offer online booking, virtual consultations, and digital information portals. However, in-person access remains important, particularly for families experiencing digital exclusion.

How do Family Hubs work with the NHS?

Health services are a core component of Family Hubs. Health visitors, midwives, and mental health practitioners typically deliver services within the hub network, commissioned through Integrated Care Boards. Effective integration requires data sharing agreements and coordinated systems.

Recommended Next Pages

• Best Software for Family Hubs in 2026 – A guide to platforms designed for Family Hub management.

• Family Hubs vs Children's Centres: What Changed and Why – A deeper comparison of the two models.

• How to Manage Bookings and Reporting in Family Hubs – Practical guidance on operational management.

• Data Collection in Family Hubs: Meeting Government Requirements – How to meet the national data framework requirements.

• Family Hubs Management Features – See how Plinth supports Family Hub programmes.

Last updated: February 2026

For more information about Plinth's Family Hubs software, contact our team or schedule a demo.