During the election campaign, the focus was on Brexit and spending on public services. Now that the election is over and the Conservative Party has won a majority, we need to look at the next level of detail in the manifesto and ascertain what this means. In particular, there was a significant focus on prevention. For sure people want to know that public services are there and functioning well if they need them - but given the choice they aren’t queuing up round the corner to get into their local hospital or to have their children cared for by the State. They’d rather be healthy, purposeful and enjoying life with their families. The directors of children’s services, adults’ services and public health we engage with around the country get this more than anyone.

On this note, the manifesto featured the idea of ‘Family Hubs’. But unfortunately it didn’t get much attention during the campaign. As a reminder, the manifesto stated: ‘We will improve the Troubled Families programme and champion Family Hubs to serve vulnerable families with the intensive, integrated support they need to care for children – from the early years and throughout their lives.’