Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2016 to Question 31409, on Trauma and the report of the work of the Children and Young People's Mental Health Taskforce, Future in Mind, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children and young people who have been sexually abused or exploited receive a comprehensive specialist initial assessment and referral to appropriate services providing evidence-based interventions according to their need.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are provided on the basis of clinical need in line with guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Following guidance published by NHS England in August 2015, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have produced Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health with their local partners, as proposed in Future in mind. These include plans for how CCGs will ensure that the needs of all children and young people are met locally. These plans cover the full spectrum of mental health issues: from prevention and resilience building, to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable. This includes those who have been exposed to sexual abuse or exploitation.