Rosena Allin-Khan

We are in regular dialogue with the sector and are aware of the recruitment challenges facing businesses. The Hospitality Council is actively looking at this issue and the Government's Hospitality Strategy covers the sector's skills needs.

To help address labour shortages, the Department for Work and Pensions are currently using work coaches to help find local talent and Plans for Jobs programmes, as well as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes.

We are in regular dialogue with the sector and are aware of the recruitment challenges facing businesses. The Hospitality Council is actively looking at this issue and the Government's Hospitality Strategy covers the sector's skills needs.

To help address labour shortages, the Department for Work and Pensions are currently using work coaches to help find local talent and Plans for Jobs programmes, as well as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes.

The wedding industry includes many different types of businesses. Some of these, such as certain wedding venues, are categorised as hospitality businesses for the purpose of COVID-19 support. Other wedding businesses are able to access other business support such as government-backed loans, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme. They may also be able to access grants through the Local Restrictions Support Grant.

The delivery of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in education settings is led by NHS England, with support from the department. MHSTs support the mental health needs of children and young people aged 5 to 18 in primary, secondary and further education (FE).

MHSTs have three core functions:

• To deliver evidence-based interventions for mild-to-moderate mental health issues.
• To support the senior mental health lead, where established, in each school or college to introduce or develop a whole school or college approach.
• To give timely advice to school and college staff, and liaise with external specialist service to help children and young people to get the right support and stay in education.

Guidance on senior mental health lead training can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/senior-mental-health-lead-training, and guidance on a whole school or college approach to mental health support can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.

There are currently 398 operational MHSTs in place, and a further 100 teams are currently training Education Mental Health Practitioners, which means around 500 MHSTs will be up and running by April 2024.

An estimated 1.4 million (32%) primary school pupils, and 1.6 million (46%) secondary school pupils are covered by the current operational MHSTs. Data is not yet available by school type for the next 12 months. The department anticipates coverage of pupils in schools and learners in FE to increase from the current 35% to around 44% overall in 2024.

Further information on the MHST rollout progress is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1156762/Transforming_CYPMH_implementation_programme__data_release_May_2023.pdf.

The Department publishes figures on the proportion of pupils who are eligible for free school meals. The most recently published figures can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

Information on the number of hours taught for each subject is collected from state funded secondary schools as part of the annual School Workforce Census each November. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The number of hours spent teaching physical education in a typical week from 2011/12 to 2021/22 (full time period available), is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/276d8355-0aeb-4b80-7c2c-08db63adc612. Similar data for 2010 is not available, but data related to 2010 is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2010-provisional.

Timetabled teaching is reported for a typical week in November, as determined by the school. It does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the Department.

The subjects taught are only collected from secondary schools that use electronic timetabling software that can produce data in the format required. Data is then weighted to provide national totals.

Information on the number of hours taught for each subject is not collected from primary schools.

The mental health of children and young people is a priority for this government. The department is committed to ensuring that all schools are safe, calm and supportive environments, which promote mental wellbeing and provide early, targeted support to help all pupils thrive.

To ensure pupils are supported, the department is offering all primary schools, secondary schools and colleges a grant to train senior mental health leads who can put in place effective, whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. More than 13,800 schools and colleges have now received a senior mental health lead training grant.

It is also vital that children and young people have the tools they need to understand and look after their own mental wellbeing. That is why, as of September 2020, our relationships, health and sex education curriculum has a strong focus on mental health and wellbeing. At primary, pupils will learn simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family and the benefits of hobbies and interests. At secondary, teaching will include the benefits of community participation, and voluntary and service-based activities on mental wellbeing and happiness.

Through health education, pupils will also be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, including common types of mental ill health, such as anxiety and depression.  They will also be taught where and how to seek support, including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions.

We are also increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working in schools and colleges. These teams offer support to children and young people experiencing common mental health issues and facilitate smoother access to external specialist support. As of March 2023, 3.4 million pupils and learners were covered by MHSTs in schools and colleges in England. Of these, 3.1 million were pupils in schools.

We welcome the findings of the Independent Early Evaluation of Children and Young People’s Mental Health MHST Trailblazer Programme, which revealed substantial progress in implementing MHSTs, despite challenges presented by the pandemic. The findings can be found at: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/brace/projects/children-and-young-people%27s-mental-health-trailblazer-programme.aspx. Positive early impacts include improved school and college staff knowledge and confidence in dealing with mental health issues, improved access to support for some groups, and improvements in partnership working. The study also found the experiences of the majority of children and young people who had contact with an MHST were positive. The results of the report will continue to help inform future rollout and mobilisation of MHSTs to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people.

Further data on the delivery and uptake of MHSTs and senior mental health lead training grants can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.

The mental health of children and young people is a priority for this government. The department is committed to ensuring that all schools are safe, calm and supportive environments, which promote mental wellbeing and provide early, targeted support to help all pupils thrive.

To ensure pupils are supported, the department is offering all primary schools, secondary schools and colleges a grant to train senior mental health leads who can put in place effective, whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. More than 13,800 schools and colleges have now received a senior mental health lead training grant.

It is also vital that children and young people have the tools they need to understand and look after their own mental wellbeing. That is why, as of September 2020, our relationships, health and sex education curriculum has a strong focus on mental health and wellbeing. At primary, pupils will learn simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family and the benefits of hobbies and interests. At secondary, teaching will include the benefits of community participation, and voluntary and service-based activities on mental wellbeing and happiness.

Through health education, pupils will also be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, including common types of mental ill health, such as anxiety and depression.  They will also be taught where and how to seek support, including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions.

We are also increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working in schools and colleges. These teams offer support to children and young people experiencing common mental health issues and facilitate smoother access to external specialist support. As of March 2023, 3.4 million pupils and learners were covered by MHSTs in schools and colleges in England. Of these, 3.1 million were pupils in schools.

We welcome the findings of the Independent Early Evaluation of Children and Young People’s Mental Health MHST Trailblazer Programme, which revealed substantial progress in implementing MHSTs, despite challenges presented by the pandemic. The findings can be found at: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/brace/projects/children-and-young-people%27s-mental-health-trailblazer-programme.aspx. Positive early impacts include improved school and college staff knowledge and confidence in dealing with mental health issues, improved access to support for some groups, and improvements in partnership working. The study also found the experiences of the majority of children and young people who had contact with an MHST were positive. The results of the report will continue to help inform future rollout and mobilisation of MHSTs to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people.

Further data on the delivery and uptake of MHSTs and senior mental health lead training grants can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.

The mental health of children and young people is a priority for this government. The department is committed to ensuring that all schools are safe, calm and supportive environments, which promote mental wellbeing and provide early, targeted support to help all pupils thrive.

To ensure pupils are supported, the department is offering all primary schools, secondary schools and colleges a grant to train senior mental health leads who can put in place effective, whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. More than 13,800 schools and colleges have now received a senior mental health lead training grant.

It is also vital that children and young people have the tools they need to understand and look after their own mental wellbeing. That is why, as of September 2020, our relationships, health and sex education curriculum has a strong focus on mental health and wellbeing. At primary, pupils will learn simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family and the benefits of hobbies and interests. At secondary, teaching will include the benefits of community participation, and voluntary and service-based activities on mental wellbeing and happiness.

Through health education, pupils will also be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, including common types of mental ill health, such as anxiety and depression.  They will also be taught where and how to seek support, including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions.

We are also increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working in schools and colleges. These teams offer support to children and young people experiencing common mental health issues and facilitate smoother access to external specialist support. As of March 2023, 3.4 million pupils and learners were covered by MHSTs in schools and colleges in England. Of these, 3.1 million were pupils in schools.

We welcome the findings of the Independent Early Evaluation of Children and Young People’s Mental Health MHST Trailblazer Programme, which revealed substantial progress in implementing MHSTs, despite challenges presented by the pandemic. The findings can be found at: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/brace/projects/children-and-young-people%27s-mental-health-trailblazer-programme.aspx. Positive early impacts include improved school and college staff knowledge and confidence in dealing with mental health issues, improved access to support for some groups, and improvements in partnership working. The study also found the experiences of the majority of children and young people who had contact with an MHST were positive. The results of the report will continue to help inform future rollout and mobilisation of MHSTs to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people.

Further data on the delivery and uptake of MHSTs and senior mental health lead training grants can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.

The mental health of children and young people is a priority for this government. The department is committed to ensuring that all schools are safe, calm and supportive environments, which promote mental wellbeing and provide early, targeted support to help all pupils thrive.

To ensure pupils are supported, the department is offering all primary schools, secondary schools and colleges a grant to train senior mental health leads who can put in place effective, whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. More than 13,800 schools and colleges have now received a senior mental health lead training grant.

It is also vital that children and young people have the tools they need to understand and look after their own mental wellbeing. That is why, as of September 2020, our relationships, health and sex education curriculum has a strong focus on mental health and wellbeing. At primary, pupils will learn simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family and the benefits of hobbies and interests. At secondary, teaching will include the benefits of community participation, and voluntary and service-based activities on mental wellbeing and happiness.

Through health education, pupils will also be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, including common types of mental ill health, such as anxiety and depression.  They will also be taught where and how to seek support, including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions.

We are also increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working in schools and colleges. These teams offer support to children and young people experiencing common mental health issues and facilitate smoother access to external specialist support. As of March 2023, 3.4 million pupils and learners were covered by MHSTs in schools and colleges in England. Of these, 3.1 million were pupils in schools.

We welcome the findings of the Independent Early Evaluation of Children and Young People’s Mental Health MHST Trailblazer Programme, which revealed substantial progress in implementing MHSTs, despite challenges presented by the pandemic. The findings can be found at: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/brace/projects/children-and-young-people%27s-mental-health-trailblazer-programme.aspx. Positive early impacts include improved school and college staff knowledge and confidence in dealing with mental health issues, improved access to support for some groups, and improvements in partnership working. The study also found the experiences of the majority of children and young people who had contact with an MHST were positive. The results of the report will continue to help inform future rollout and mobilisation of MHSTs to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people.

Further data on the delivery and uptake of MHSTs and senior mental health lead training grants can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.

​​Overall, taking the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations and the additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement 2022 together, core schools funding is increasing by £3.5 billion in 2023/24, compared to 2022/23. This takes the total core schools budget for 2023/24 to £57.3 billion.

​The Autumn Statement 2022 announced that the core schools budget will increase by £2.0 billion in 2023/24 and a further £2.0 billion in 2024/25, over and above totals announced at Spending Review 2021. This brings the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024/25, up from £43.5 billion in 2019/20. The increases in funding mean that 2024/25 will be the highest ever level of spending on schools in real terms per pupil.

​Schools will have flexibility over how they use the additional grant funding to support their pupils. It will enable school leaders to invest in the areas that we know positively impact educational attainment, including high quality teaching and targeted support to the children who need it most, as well as helping schools to manage higher costs, including, for example, higher energy bills and staff pay awards.

​As part of increases to the core schools budget, pupil premium rates will increase by 5% for 2023/24, a £180 million increase from 2022/23, taking total pupil premium funding to £2.9 billion. This will support schools to improve the attainment and wider outcomes of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those with social, emotional, and mental health needs.​

​The government is not directly recruiting mental health specialists for schools. Schools are best placed to decide what support to provide and which specialists to recruit to respond to the mental health needs of their pupils. Senior mental health leads will be trained to inform their school’s decision.​

​Where specialists are recruited into schools to support pupil mental health, it is vital that appropriate links are made with local, specialist services such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to ensure children and young people receive the right support for their need. To strengthen the link between education settings and specialist services such as CAMHS, the department is introducing mental health support teams (MHSTs) in schools and colleges across the country. The teams include additional trained professionals who can provide support directly to pupils as well as supporting school staff.

​These teams now reach 26% of pupils, a year earlier than originally planned. This will increase to 399 teams, covering around 35% of pupils, by April 2023, with over 500 planned to be up and running by 2024. Further information is available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/trailblazers/.

​To expand access to specialist support, the NHS Long Term Plan commits to increasing investment in mental health services by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 and aims for an additional 345,000 children and young people to be able to access NHS-funded mental health support by 2023/24.

The number of teacher working days recorded as sickness absence as a result of mental ill health is unavailable.

The number and rates of teacher sickness absence is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/b73b4302-b89f-4295-8b34-08dafb06f66e.

Schools are best placed to decide themselves what support to offer to their pupils to support their mental health and wellbeing. The department does not collect detailed data on provision in schools, but does ask questions about schools’ perceptions of mental health support as part of our regular omnibus surveys, the results of which are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-and-college-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2021-to-2022.

To help schools to make informed decisions on what support to provide, the department is funding all schools and colleges in England to train senior mental health leads who can put in place whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. This includes how to make sure they are including processes for identifying students, or specific groups, who need additional mental health support. Two thirds of schools and colleges will have been able to access funding by April 2023, backed by a £10 million investment for the 2022/23 financial year.​​

​​There are also currently 287 mental health support teams in place in around 4,700 schools and colleges across the country, offering support to children experiencing common mental health issues and and facilitating smoother access to external specialist support such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. These teams now cover 26% of pupils a year earlier than originally planned, and this will increase to 399 teams, covering around 35% of pupils by April 2023, with over 500 planned to be up and running by 2024. Further information is available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/trailblazers/.

The department works closely with the Office for Students (OfS) and the higher education (HE) sector to promote and fund effective practice around supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people.

This government is investing at least £2.3 billion a year of extra funding to expand and transform mental health services by 2023/24, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. In addition, £500 million has been provided in 2021/22, which included £79 million for young people’s mental health services last year, enabling around 22,500 more children and young people to access support in their communities, and across education settings.

To ensure that all students have access to dedicated mental health support no matter where they study, the department have asked the OfS to fund Student Space, a mental health and wellbeing online platform for students, with up to £3.6 million invested so far. It has been accessed by over 250,000 students since its launch in August 2020. The website for Student Space can be found here: https://www.studentspace.org.uk.

The OfS has allocated an additional £15 million in the financial year 2022/23 to help address the challenges to student mental health posed by the transition to university, and to support joined up working with NHS services. This funding targets those students in greatest need of such services, including vulnerable groups and hard to reach students.

To make faster progress, the OfS will allocate up to £3 million of this funding towards developing stronger partnership working with NHS services. Ministers from the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care chaired a summit in June 2022 to launch this work, and the departments continue to work together to achieve this common goal.

It is essential that universities have access to robust evidence regarding effective practice. Alongside funding of £9 million over the past 4 years to develop innovative approaches to supporting student mental health, the OfS has recently commissioned a consortium, led by the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO) to establish and disseminate successful approaches across the sector. This work will lead to the creation of a central, online hub to share better ways to support student mental health.

In May 2022 the department appointed university Vice-Chancellor Edward Peck as HE's first ever Student Support Champion. His role will include promotion of technologies to flag the early warning signs where students may be struggling.

The information requested is not held centrally. Information on the overall number of days of teacher sickness absence is collected from state-funded schools in England in the November School Workforce Census. However, this does not include the reason for the sickness absence.

Each census collects data for absence from the previous academic year. The November 2022 census, covering the period September 2021 to August 2022, will be published in summer 2023 in the annual school workforce statistical publication. The latest report can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The Department does not collect data on sickness absence due to mental health illness of pupils.

Data on children who are absent because of illness overall is included in the publication on pupil absence in schools in England, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.

Attendance guidance makes clear that schools must record absences as authorised where pupils cannot attend due to illness (both physical and mental health related).

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.

The department recognises the cost pressures that some schools and suppliers may be facing, and we are holding regular meetings with other government departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies.

Cost pressures should be seen in the wider context of funding for schools. The department received additional funding from HM Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which we distributed through a schools supplementary grant. This includes a £2.5 billion increase in mainstream school funding for 5 to 16-year-olds in the 2022/23 financial year, compared to 2021/22.

The department also spends around £600 million on Universal Infant Free School Meals each year. The per meal rate has been increased from £2.34 to £2.41, and backdated to 1 April 2022, in recognition of increased costs.

The standards for school food are set out in the Requirements or School Food Regulations 2014 and are to ensure that schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. Schools have flexibility under the standards to make changes if ingredients or meals are not readily available, so long as nutritional standards are maintained.

Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous bodies independent from government and they have a responsibility to support students with mental health conditions, defined as a disability. As experts in their student population, HE providers are best placed to identify specific needs of their students.

The department considers changes to support arrangements for students in HE on an annual basis.

Maximum grants and loans for living costs were increased by 3.1% this academic year, and the department has announced that they will increase by a further 2.3% in the 2022/23 academic year.

As part of a package to support households with the rising cost of energy bills, the government is giving a council tax rebate payment of £150 to households that were living in a property in council tax bands A to D as their main home on 1 April 2022. This includes full-time students that do not live in student halls. In addition, we are making available discretionary funding of £144 million to support vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes, including students, to support those who do not pay council tax. Each council is responsible for the design of their discretionary support scheme and will publish further details on their website.

Many HE providers have hardship funds that students can apply for. Assistance and budgeting advice is available from HE providers themselves as well as from online sources such as Student Space and the Money Advice Service.

Ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to access a world-class education remains a top priority and the department expects universities to do all they can to support disadvantaged students. Record numbers of high achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds progressed into higher education (HE) last year and we want this progress to continue.

While there has been a strong focus on ensuring more disadvantaged students get into HE, there has not always been as much consideration of the value of the courses they are admitted to.

We want to ensure that courses are of genuinely high quality, with support for students to both complete their studies and develop the skills and knowledge that will lead to rewarding graduate employment or further study.

In November 2021, we tasked the Office for Students (OfS) with creating an access and participation regime that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by ensuring they are equipped to make informed choices and are able to access and succeed on high-quality courses which lead to good graduate employment. We have appointed John Blake as Director for Fair Access and Participation at the OfS and he is playing a pivotal role in driving this work forward.

We have recently consulted on the design of a new National State Scholarship, worth up to £75 million, which will help the highest achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds overcome barriers to attending and succeeding on the HE course that is right for them.

Supporting the mental health of students requires collaboration between higher education (HE) providers and the NHS. The Office for Students (OfS) will distribute £15 million to HE providers over the 2022/23 academic year to provide students with additional mental health support. £3 million of this will be used to build on the existing work of the Student Mental Health Partnerships project and establish, on a regional basis, new partnerships between HE and NHS providers.

This is in addition to the £33 million direct funding NHS England is providing in the 2022/23 financial year to improve the quality of mental health services for young adults.

As the OfS funding is being made available to support regional projects, it is not meaningful to calculate this funding on a per student basis.

The department does not hold any information on the number of students receiving free school meals, who are suffering from a diagnosable mental illness.

The table below shows A level entries and results for students aged 16 to 18 at the start of the academic year, and eligible for free school meals, for the last five years. The data corresponds to the number of entries within a single academic year and refers to students in schools and colleges in England. X grades are awarded when there is no result and Q grades are awarded when the result is pending.

The attached table shows the collective entries for students on free school meals, broken down by GCSE grades, for the last five academic years.

Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once. In 2019/20 and 2021/21, only one entry per subject is counted and we count the entry with the highest grade for results received in summer 2022. Previously only the first entry grade would count, and this is still the case for any results received before summer 2021. Double grades refer to GCSE combined science, which was introduced in 2017/18. Therefore, this data is unavailable for 2016/17.

By 2019/20 and 2020/21, all GCSEs in England have been reformed and use the new 9 to 1 grading system (rather than A*-G). Grade U refers to pupils' results which are ungraded or unclassified. Grade X refers to pupils who were absent or whose results are pending.

Information on the number of in-school mental health counsellors and mental health workers is not collected centrally.

The department collects information on staff working in state funded schools via the annual School Workforce Census but does not directly identify in-school mental health counsellors and mental health workers. The results are published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

Our most recent survey of mental health provision in schools and colleges published in 2017 found that 61% of schools and colleges (56% of primary schools, 84% of secondary schools and 93% of colleges) reported offering access to counselling service for their pupils.

School and college-based counselling is valuable provision which can play a particularly effective role as part of a whole-school or college approach, within which support can come from several sources. In that context, it is important that schools and colleges have the freedom to decide what support to offer to students and staff based on their needs, drawing on an evidence base of effective practice. Our ‘Counselling in schools’ guidance offers support and advice to schools on setting up and improving counselling services and how they can work together to best support pupils: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.

We are also committed to delivering our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, which includes introducing new Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) into schools and colleges. These teams are intended to provide early intervention on mild to moderate issues, as well as helping staff within a school or college setting to provide a ‘whole school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing.

The £79 million boost to children and young people’s mental health support that we announced in March will include accelerating the rollout of MHSTs. There are now over 280 MHSTs set up or in training, and this will grow to around 400 by April 2023, supporting nearly 3 million children across the country. This increase means that millions of children and young people will have access to significantly expanded mental health services. High level MHST breakdowns by year, region and area can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/trailblazers/mh-support-teams/.