Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of mental health services for children and young people in South Kent; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the local National Health Service.

The delivery of Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (ChYPS) in South Kent is provided by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT), and commissioned by local NHS clinical commissioning groups and Kent County Council.

We are advised by NHS England that SPFT is compliant with contract targets, in that the current average waiting time for initial routine assessments is four weeks, and from referral to the start of routine treatment is 10 weeks. All emergency referrals are responded to within 24 hours and urgent referrals within five days.

This Government has invested £54 million into the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme over 2011-15/16, which aims to improve access to evidence-based psychological therapies and collaboration with children, young people and families. We have also invested an additional £7 million this year to provide around 50 extra Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services beds for young patients in the areas with the least provision – 53 new beds have now been commissioned.

I launched the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce, which will consider key issues facing child and adolescent mental health. The Government will publish a report on the Taskforce shortly.