Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what safeguards are in place to prevent children and young people from being placed in inappropriate mental health settings, including (a) adult wards and (b) facilities located far from home.

All placements must be clinically appropriate, proportionate to any risk presented, and local ownership and involvement must be maintained from a clinical and commissioning perspective. Where possible, a placing team should look to neighbouring geographical areas when considering placements to minimise distance from home and ensure that local involvement is facilitated more easily and effectively.

NHS England is developing a new model for specialised children and young people’s mental health services, supported by a new service specification and quality standards. This model will support the delivery of specialised services in the community and within children and young people’s mental health inpatient settings. This will aim to ensure children and young people are treated in the least restrictive, age-appropriate environments, as close to home as possible.

£75 million has been set aside in the NHS Capital Guidance for 2025/26 to reduce inappropriate out of area placements in adult, and children and young people’s services, including in acute care, Psychiatric Intensive Care Units, rehabilitation wards, and secure services. Integrated care boards will receive allocations from this funding pot based on credible, cost-effective, high-impact plans to reduce inappropriate out of area placements.

The Medium-Term Planning Framework, published on 24 October, sets targets for integrated care boards to eliminate inappropriate out-of-area placements by 2028/29