Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the university sector on the mental health of students.

This government is committed to ensuring students in higher education (HE) have access to effective mental health support. This is why my noble Friend, the Minister for Skills has recently appointed a new HE Student Support Champion to lead a reconvened HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. Full details of the new champion will be announced shortly.

The Minister for Skills, met with the new champion earlier this month to set out her strategic priorities for mental health in HE, and on 10 October the champion reconvened the HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. The taskforce will be a key vehicle for discussions with the university sector around driving forward improvements.

Updates on the work of the taskforce will be published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/higher-education-mental-health-implementation-taskforce.