After presenting my Healthy Start Scheme Bill, I wrote to the Healthy Secretary, Steven Barclay, with a co-signed letter from backers of my Bill urging the Government to auto-enrol those already eligible for NHS Healthy Start onto the scheme.
Around 200,000 low-income pregnant mothers, babies and children under 4 are missing out on the scheme that provides them with free milk, baby formula, fruit and vegetables.
The response from the Department for Health and Social Care was to suggest that “terms and conditions” were preventing auto-enrolment, but there are very simple solutions to this problem.
We will continue to explore opt-out rather than opt-in remedies to this problem and present them to the Government.
I will keep the pressure on until those entitled to this nutritional safety net are receiving it.
You can read both my letter and the Government’s response below:
