Health chiefs and politicians in Trafford are warning that the government risks a major ‘public health crisis’ unless a scheme to help struggling families is improved. Trafford council leader Tom Ross, and Helen Gollins, Trafford council’s director of public health, are now calling on the government to update the Healthy Start Scheme as soon as possible.
They have written a letter to the Department of Health and Social Care asking for Healthy Start payments to increase in line with rising food prices and to simplify the application process and make it more inclusive to increase uptake. Coun Ross and Ms Gollins pointed to reports nationally of desperate parents watering down condensed milk and stealing baby formula to keep their new-born babies fed properly.
Andrew Western, MP for Stretford and Urmston, is also supporting the campaign. Under the scheme, pregnant women and parents and carers who have children aged three or under may be eligible for payments of just £4.25 for each week of pregnancy from 10 weeks, then £8.50 a week for babies up to one year old, and £4.25 a week for children up to four years old.
