The Health and Social Care Committee's First 1,000 Days report called for the 95% target coverage of children's vaccinations to be reinstated in planning guidance for regional commissioners and a specific plan to rebuild the health visitor workforce by recruiting at 1,000 new personnel.

In its response, the DHSC did say as per the committee's report, that there is now a requirement for ICBs to have a named official with responsibility for vaccinations.

The DHSC said it was also looking to support more areas of the country to join a pilot scheme where health visitors are trained to deliver vaccines, thereby improving access for families, as per the committee's recommendation.

In addition, ministers said the workforce will be strengthened and that further updates will come in the forthcoming 10-Year Workforce Plan, which DHSC has previously said is due this spring.

The committee also called on the Government set out plans to make Family Hubs available in every community in England.

In response the DHSC said that, as of April 2026, over 200 new Best Start Family Hubs will open in previously unfunded local authorities. It added that by the end of 2028 ‘it will create up to 1,000' Family Hubs and ‘2,000 network sites'.

Kicking the can down the road

Health and Social Care Committee spokesperson Paulette Hamilton said: ‘We support the Government's ambitious plans to open Family Hubs in hundreds of communities. We believe this will make a real, tangible difference to families, especially in the country's most deprived areas, by improving access to advice and support with infant care and parent's own wellbeing.

‘But Family Hubs are only one piece of the jigsaw. We remain unconvinced that the Government's rhetoric about vaccinations being a priority is matched by its actions. A new strategy is needed as the current approach is simply failing to deliver improved vaccination rates and is costing young children their lives.'

Hamilton accused the Government of kicking the can down the road, adding: ‘We are not given confidence that ministers are acting quickly enough to support health visitors, or that there is any intention to scale up the workforce to a level that will even touch the sides of what's needed. However, we are glad to see that pilots for health visitors to deliver vaccinations are making progress.'

DHSC response

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘Following a decade of underinvestment, this Government is committed to strengthening health visiting services so that every family has access to the support they need.

‘As we shift care from hospital to community, health visitors will play an important role, including by building on their trusted relationships to help protect more children through vaccinations.

‘We will set out plans for the profession in the coming months as we strive to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.'

The DHSC highlighted a recently launched a £2m pilot which will see health visitors reach families facing barriers to vaccines, such as travel costs, language difficulties or vaccine hesitancy, to ensure more children are protected.