Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to implement proposals in the Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision Green Paper.

Access to mental health support is more important than ever during the COVID-19 outbreak. NHS mental health services remain open and the government has recently provided over £9 million to leading mental health charities to help them expand and reach those most in need. NHS mental health trusts have also provided 24/7 access to crisis telephone lines to support people of all ages. Additionally, the Department for Education, with health partners, have launched the £8 million Wellbeing for Education programme, further supporting pupil and student, parent and carer, and staff wellbeing, resilience and recovery in light of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The department remains committed, with health partners, to implementing the long term improvements to support children and young people’s mental health, as set out in the government’s response to its Green Paper and the NHS Long Term Plan. We have continued to work jointly with health partners to adapt and roll-out new Mental Health Support Teams during the COVID-19 outbreak, aiming to reach a fifth to a quarter of schools and colleges across the country by the 2023/24 academic year. We are also now offering Link Programme training to all schools and colleges, helping to improve joint working?locally between education and NHS children and young people’s mental health services. This has been adapted and moved online in the short term to help meet the immediate needs of schools and colleges and local areas.

We also remain committed to training a senior mental health lead in every state school and college in the country, equipping them to implement effective whole school and college approaches to mental health and wellbeing, including processes for ensuring pupils and students with mental health issues receive appropriate support. We are currently reviewing the needs of school and college mental health leads, how, and when we deliver that training in light of the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.