Last month I visited a family hub in London with an impressive range of specialist services available to support children. The glaring problem, however, was the lack of families using these universal services. This is not uncommon, nor is it restricted just to children's services. Public services may be overstretched, but many also face a take-up challenge.
One in five children do not receive their health check-up at age two to 30 months. Childhood vaccination rates have fallen across the country. Many families do not take up relevant welfare benefits, with around £24bn a year unclaimed.
