Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of mental health support available within schools.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
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/.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support university students with their mental health.
Answered by Robert Halfon
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an estimate of the number of sick days that were taken by staff due to mental health illness in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in England in the period between September 2021 and August 2022.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an estimate of the number of sick days that were taken by pupils due to mental health illness in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in England in the period between September 2021 and August 2022.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
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).
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of rising inflation on the ability of schools to offer nutritious free school meals.
Answered by Will Quince
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact on the mental health of students of the 11 per cent real-terms reduction to the student maintenance support loan by 2022-23.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the number of university applicants from deprived areas.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much on a per student basis universities will receive through the new funding commitment of £3 million provided for student mental health.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of students receiving free school meals, who are suffering from a diagnosable mental illness, in each of the last three years.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not hold any information on the number of students receiving free school meals, who are suffering from a diagnosable mental illness.