Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on implementing the proposals of the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Green Paper; and what plans he has to fast-track that implementation in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

We have made good progress on, and remain committed to, carrying out the Green Paper’s core proposals. In 2018 we announced the first 25 trailblazer sites delivering 59 mental health support teams in and near schools and colleges with the first becoming operational earlier this year. In July 2019, NHS England confirmed a further 57 areas would develop 123 new mental health support teams and a number of these have been commissioned and training has begun.

Twelve of the trailblazer sites, are also testing four-week waiting times specialist NHS services. They remain on track to deliver a recommendation in 2021/22 for the phased introduction of an access and waiting time standard for children and young people’s mental health.

We will continue to work with the National Health Service, Public Health England and other experts to gather evidence and assess the potential longer-term mental health impacts on children and young people and plan for how best to support them throughout the coming weeks and months.