Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the preventative work done by the non-statutory sector in providing support to children and young people with mental health illnesses in vulnerable families; and what assessment they have made of how such provision can be boosted with additional resources to complement and enhance the work undertaken by health care professional staff.

The non-statutory sector plays a vital role in supporting children with mental health needs, including those in vulnerable families. To support local leadership and accountability for local transformation, Future in Mind introduced cross-agency Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health services. These now form part of local Sustainability and Transformation Plans and provide a basis for local areas to work with commissioners and providers across health, social care, education, youth justice and the voluntary sector, bringing everyone together to plan strategically, reflecting the needs of local communities. All plans must provide evidence of effective joint working with the voluntary sector.

This programme is supported by an additional £1.4 billion available from 2015/16 to 2019/20 to transform children and young people’s mental health services. NHS England’s 2016 survey Children and young people’s mental health Local Transformation Plans – a summary of key themes, includes many examples of work with the voluntary sector. A copy is attached.

The Government is aware that more needs to be done to support children with mental health from vulnerable families. The Green Paper, Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision, published last year, includes proposals to improve early intervention through Mental Health Support Teams linked to schools. We are consulting on the approach to implementing these proposals, including how they can best support vulnerable groups. The Green Paper also includes a commitment to commission research on how to engage vulnerable families, to provide information to local areas when referring children and parents to both parenting and parental conflict interventions. A copy of the Green Paper is attached.