Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide mental health support to people under the age of 30 in (a) Wakefield, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England.

In March we launched a Mental Health Recovery Action Plan, backed by £500million for 2021/22. This includes £79 million to significantly expand children’s mental health services, allowing approximately 22,500 more children and young people aged 0 to 25 years old to access community health services, 2,000 more children and young people to access eating disorder services and a faster increase in the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges over the 2021/22 financial year. It also includes £13 million to ensure young adults aged 18 to 25 years old, including university students, are supported with tailored mental health support, helping bridge the gap between children’s and adult services

In Wakefield district child and adolescent mental health services responsive adolescent and children’s home-based treatment (ReACH) team are operating seven days a week. Turning Point deliver talking therapy services in Wakefield available for children and young people aged 16 years old and above who are registered with a general practitioner surgery in the Wakefield district. An online confidential support service, Kooth, provides a safe and secure means of accessing mental health and wellbeing support designed specifically for young people aged 11 to 25 years old.

In West Yorkshire, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan, all clinical commissioning groups in the region are committed to delivering the Mental Health Investment Standard, which sees the overall budget for mental health growing faster than overall National Health Service budget.