Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

‘Each year, we produce a report providing an overview of the UK benefit system, including estimates of the number of people missing out on benefits administered by both central and local government. The NHS Healthy Start uptake data has been a key source in our analysis, as data on eligibility is generally limited.

To calculate the percentage uptake of the Healthy Start Scheme, I would like to request access to the number of people enrolled in the digital scheme and the total number of eligible beneficiaries for each local authority in England and Wales, covering the period from March 2024 to January 2025.

This data will help us correct our previous estimations and ensure the new version of our report provides the most accurate and up-to-date assessment of benefit uptake.

I understand that a previous data issue affecting eligibility estimates has been rectified since March 2024. If this is incorrect, please provide data for the most recent months available.

Thank you for your time. Please let me know if further clarification is required.’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 21 February 2025.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

Our response

Digital Scheme

Under Section 21 of the FOIA we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you.

The information you requested is available from the link below:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21

Eligible Beneficiaries

An issue has been identified with the source data that is used to calculate uptake of the NHS Healthy Start scheme since January 2023. We have therefore removed the columns for the number of people eligible for the scheme and the uptake percentage from January 2023 onwards while we investigate this further with the data provider. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause and endeavour to provide an update as soon as we can.

You can find out more about Healthy Start uptake data by visiting the UK Parliament website (opens in a new tab).

The issue has only affected the data on the number of people eligible for the scheme. It has not prevented anyone from joining the scheme or continuing to access the scheme if they were eligible.

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing, the data please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2025” Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.