Students: Mental Health Services

(asked on 25th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of mental health services for students at university.


Answered by
Michelle Donelan Portrait
Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This question was answered on 2nd March 2021

Protecting student and staff wellbeing is vital during these difficult times and it is important students can still access the mental health and wellbeing support they need. We recognise that many students are facing additional mental health challenges due to the disruption and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

It is for higher education (HE) providers as autonomous bodies to identify and address the needs of their student body and decide what mental health and wellbeing support to put in place. HE providers have a duty of care towards their staff and students, including legal requirements under the Equality Act 2010, to take all reasonable steps to protect the health and safety and welfare of students to prevent harm. HE providers are best placed to understand and cater for their student body including providing mental health support for lower-level needs.

The Department of Health and Social Care has overall policy responsibility for young people’s mental health. We continue to work closely with them to take steps to develop mental health and wellbeing support.

The government is committed, through the NHS Long Term Plan, to investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year into mental health services by financial year 2023-24. This will see an additional 345,000 children and young people, and adults, able to access support through NHS-funded services. This year the NHS will receive around an additional £500 million, to address waiting times for mental health services, give more people the mental health support they need, and invest in the NHS workforce. More detail will be provided in due course.

We have also worked with the Office for Students (OfS) to provide Student Space, which has been funded by up to £3 million by the OfS. Student Space is a mental health and wellbeing platform designed to bridge any gaps in support for students arising from this unprecedented situation and works alongside existing services. I am delighted they have extended the platform to support students for the whole 2020/21 academic year.

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