Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce (a) additional funding and (b) policy changes to expand (i) therapeutic and (ii) foster care options for young people over 16.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and giving mental health the same importance as physical health.

The Department of Health and Social Care set out in the 10-Year Health Plan how we will work to better identify and meet children's and young people’s mental health needs. We will continue to roll out Mental Health Support Teams to schools and colleges in England, to reach full national coverage by 2029/30.

The Department for Education has announced £25 million in transformation funding to recruit hundreds more new foster families and strengthen support to retain existing carers to improve the life chances of thousands of children. This will ensure that children in foster care experience greater stability. This is additional to the £15 million announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which aims to recruit more foster carers. This will include foster care recruitment for older children and those with more complex needs.

The 2025 Spending Review also included capital funding to provide more foster care placements, by renovating and extending foster care homes.