The Family Hubs Pregnancy Grant pilot programme is ongoing, with planned completion in late 2026. It is too early to draw firm conclusions about whether and to what extent the programme is leading to the intended increase in engagement with Family Hubs. However, the evaluation data we have analysed to-date suggest three emerging takeaways regarding the programme’s design and its immediate effects on parents.

1. Operational feasibility: administrative data is a viable route for targeted support

The use of linked administrative data to identify and automate the grant offer appears to be effective. Despite some gaps in the data linkage, the grant has been successfully delivered to hundreds of expectant parents. Uptake of the grant is high, and parents are pleasantly surprised by, and appreciative of the low administrative burden.

Delivering the grant via bank transfer seems to be the preferred, lower-friction route for the majority of parents. However, parents must provide their bank account details to the council in order to receive a transfer, and we have heard from some parents that they were hesitant to do so because of worries that the grant was a scam. We also expect that some families - perhaps those who are less likely to take part in our survey and interviews - may be wary of council contact, and may miss out on the grant if they were required to fill in a form in order to receive the grant. Therefore, the ATM withdrawal option remains worthwhile for inclusivity.

Family navigators find the role enjoyable and meaningful, and they feel that their job is made easier by the Toolkit. They have been able to speak on the phone with over half of the parents they have reached out to, and have met with around 15% of them. While there is room to increase these rates of contact success, a 50% call completion rate is in line with other telephone outreach initiatives.

2. Impact on families: the grant supports material needs and reduces stress

So far, the £500 grant is being used as expected: on items for the baby, or to cover costs that would otherwise represent a source of stress for parents (day-to-day spending, bills, debt). Our survey suggests that parents in the target group had faced high baseline levels of financial stress throughout their pregnancy. While the grant is not enough to remove financial stress, it provides a temporary buffer. Parents we interviewed shared the relief they felt from having received the grant, and how the money contributed to a sense of dignity and independence.

3. Service integration: early signals suggest proactive outreach can bridge the awareness gap

The Family Navigator role is intended to serve as a bridge between the grant and the ongoing support that is available through Family Hubs. With the data we have to date, we are not able to assess the impact of the Navigator programme on the use of Family Hubs. Early results from the 154 parents we have surveyed so far indicate that those offered support from a Family Navigator are more likely to intend to visit a Family Hub with their baby. Parents we interviewed who attended a Family Hub tour with their Family Navigator found the experience very helpful. Overall, parents seem to value the Family Navigator’s proactive outreach and are requesting more frequent, targeted updates about available services.

Next steps

As the pilot continues through 2026, our evaluation will move from assessing implementation to tracking longer-term engagement of families who have received the grant. We will focus on whether the connections made during pregnancy translate into changes in service take-up after the baby is born.

A key hypothesis of this pilot is that providing a grant and a Family Navigator together (known as a ‘stacked’ intervention) is more effective than providing either in isolation. Our theory is that by addressing immediate material needs, the grant creates both the trust and mental headspace necessary for parents to engage with family navigators. We do not yet have sufficient longitudinal data to test this hypothesis, but it will remain a focus in the full evaluation report.

We expect to complete the full evaluation in 2028.