Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to (a) promote and (b) implement the guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence entitled Social, emotional and mental wellbeing in primary and secondary education, NG223, published on 6 July 2022, in educational settings.

As recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, the department has committed to offer all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. This is backed by £10 million in the 2022/23 academic year, sufficient to enable up to two thirds of state schools and colleges to access training by April 2023. Over 8,000 schools and colleges, including over half of state-funded secondary schools in England, have taken up the offer so far.

The NICE guidance also highlights the importance of identifying individual children and young people for targeted support based on their specific needs. As part of training senior mental health leads, senior leaders will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to understand the mental health needs of their student population and consider the range of in-school provision needed.

To expand access to early support in schools and colleges, the department is increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams, so they cover approximately 35% of pupils in England by 2023, with over 500 planned to be up and running by 2024. The teams work alongside and complement existing provision in schools and colleges, such as counselling services, to help ensure children and young people get the targeted support they need.

The department is also funding a large-scale randomised control trial of approaches to improving pupil mental wellbeing in schools, to provide evidence on what works to support children and young people’s mental wellbeing and how it can be delivered effectively in a school setting. This will further inform schools on what approaches and interventions work in a school environment to improve wellbeing.