Healthy start promise rings hollow for poorest mothers and children
26th November 2006
The new Healthy Start scheme, designed to give the poorest children a healthy start in life could fail from the outset unless changes are made to the way it is administered, according to a new report from national charity Citizens Advice.
From today milk tokens for pregnant women and their babies will be replaced by vouchers that can be exchanged for fresh fruit and vegetables as well as milk and infant formula.
But Citizens Advice is concerned that welcome changes to the scope of the scheme have not been matched by changes to improve its administration.
In a briefing published today, the charity says the women and children who stand to benefit most from the new scheme risk missing out on the healthy start they have been promised, because of obstacles which prevent them getting the vouchers they need, when they most need them.
Citizens Advice Director of Policy Teresa Perchard said:
"Good nutrition in the early weeks and years is vital for babies and children’s health and life chances. We welcome the Healthy Start scheme, which has the potential to make a really positive difference to thousands of low income families. But the delivery system has proved unfit for purpose for many people. The Government should commit itself to addressing these problems as a matter of urgency. Many children are depending on this initiative to ensure their life chances are not ruined simply because they are born poor."
Over 700,000 milk tokens are issued to families across the UK every month and roughly one in five children under the age of five depend on them. Up until 2003, women collected milk tokens over the counter from their local benefits office and the scheme worked well, but then milk tokens became linked to child tax credits and responsibility for delivery is now shared between Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Department of Health.
Delays built into the system and confusion about who is responsible for administering the scheme have meant some families waiting up to 16 months before receiving the milk tokens they are entitled to, and many poor families are being left in desperate need as a result.
One CAB advised a mother who had not received milk tokens for almost 10 months and was passed between different departments who blamed each other for the delay. In another case, the single mother of a ten week old baby was told by officials to expect a further delay of up to ten weeks before she got any milk tokens.
Citizens Advice warns that these problems are unlikely to end with the new Healthy Start scheme, because the system for delivering it remains exactly the same as with the old milk tokens scheme.
Under the old scheme, many pregnant women on low incomes were simply never told they may qualify for milk tokens. As a result they struggle to make ends meet and their baby may not get essential nutrition at a vital stage of its development. In one case the mother of an 18 month old child living on just £57 a week had never received milk tokens because she never knew such extra help was available to her. They had never been mentioned by her midwife, Jobcentre Plus or HMRC.
The charity is also concerned that the real value of the vouchers has fallen and will no longer meet the actual cost of infant formula.* And many children entitled to help under the old scheme will be cut out by the new scheme, which reduces the upper age limit from five to four.
Citizens Advice is calling for the Revenue and the Department of Health to overhaul the system for administering Healthy Start to ensure that delays in supplying vouchers for milk and other healthy foods are eliminated.
It also wants to see the scheme promoted more widely by healthcare professionals working with expectant mothers, and recommends that the Department of Health should monitor the price of milk and infant formula to ensure the value of Healthy Start vouchers always meets the real cost.
*Under the old scheme families received milk tokens for either seven pints of milk or 900 grams of infant formula a week. With Healthy Start they will get a voucher worth £2.80 a week. While those with babies under a year old will be entitled to receive two vouchers worth £5.60 in total, the average cost of infant formula already exceeds this by 38 pence, leaving parents with a shortfall to make up right from the outset.
Last updated: March 6, 2007