Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training education professionals receive on identifying eating disorders and signposting support and treatment; and what guidance her Department issues to schools on eating disorders.

We recognise that education professionals have a vital role to play in raising concerns about eating disorders and other mental health needs, as well as providing early support where mental health problems have been identified. We believe that schools are best placed to make decisions about the training needs of their staff, and there is a range of training available. In particular we have supported the development of MindEd, a free online portal funded by the Department of Health, which enables all adults working with children and young people to learn more about specific mental health problems and how to support them. MindEd includes information on eating disorders and more information can be found online at: https://www.minded.org.uk/

To support schools further we have funded the Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Association to produce guidance and primary and secondary key stages lesson plans on teaching about mental health and emotional wellbeing. These lesson plans cover all the key stages and topics covered at Key Stage 3 and 4, including promoting emotional wellbeing, healthy coping strategies and eating disorders.

The Government Equalities Office has worked with a range of bodies, including the Advertising Association and the National Citizen Service, to develop materials that support good practice and encourage young people to become more informed and resilient consumers of media content; and with the PSHE Association to provide guidance for teachers on delivering body image lessons using accredited resources.

To drive specific improvements in support for young people with eating disorders, the government has made £150 million available over the next 5 years through NHS England. More widely, an additional £1.25 billion funding is being made available over the next five years to transform children and young people’s mental health services to deliver more integrated and accessible services.