I refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act, which I received on 11th October 2022 for information about the following:

I am writing on behalf of Yorkshire Children’s Centre, the regional lead for Healthy Start in Kirklees, to request up to date take up data on the Healthy Start programme. The information on the website is out of date and does not reflect the take up since the move to digital processes from paper based in July 2021.

I am aware this has been sought previously but has not been made available, so I am formally submitting this as a freedom of information request. It is very important we are able to track the uptake of this programme in order for us to maximise the effectiveness of our work and the penetration into the target audience in Kirklees.

Response

July and August 2021, and April 2022 Onwards

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) for July and August 2021, and April 2022 onwards. The NHSBSA relies on data from third parties to calculate the take-up of the NHS Healthy Start scheme. We don’t currently hold this data from April 2022 onwards. We will publish the uptake data at local authority level on the NHS Healthy Start website as soon as it is available.

The NHSBSA delivers the NHS Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The NHSBSA continues to work closely with DHSC and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to obtain the relevant data.

September 2021 to March 2022

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

Data up to March 2022 is available on the NHS Healthy Start website:

https://healthystart.nhsbsa.net/healthcare-professionals/