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Healthy Start Scheme

Volume 485: debated on Thursday 11 December 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the healthy start scheme. (240368)

Plans are currently under way to evaluate the nutritional impact of Healthy Start. This will include an assessment of the extent to which Healthy Start provides a nutritional safety net for those vulnerable groups known to be most at risk of poor nutrition, and its ability to improve diet and increase awareness of healthy eating and the promotion of breast feeding.

We are also refining a comprehensive suite of management information that will allow us to assess the performance in delivering the scheme, monitoring trends in demand, scheme take up, and voucher usage.