Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken steps to develop quality standards and national guidance to support people planning, funding and delivering specialist psychological support services for bereaved parents.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The national bereavement care pathway for pregnancy and baby loss was launched in 2017 and seeks to increase the quality of, and reduce the inequity in, the bereavement care provided by healthcare professionals after the loss of a baby or pregnancy at any gestation based on nine bereavement care standards which can be accessed at the following link:
https://nbcpathway.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-05/Bereavement%20Care%20Standards.pdf
A key element of this is the requirement for a key worker who acts as a single point of contact for the bereaved family, who they can turn to for information on the child death review process, and who can signpost them to sources of support such as specialist psychological support.
In December 2018, NHS England published ‘When a child dies - a guide for parents and carers to support parents through the child death review process’ and help them understand the support that is available.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that relevant professionals across health services receive training in the identification of psychiatric illness in parents who have experienced pregnancy and baby loss.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Training programmes for healthcare professionals must meet the standards set by the regulatory body for their profession.
Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasize the skills and approaches a healthcare practitioner must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.
Curricula for specialities and roles that regularly treat pregnant and post-partum patients will contain competencies relating to understanding and identifying the psychological and mental health impacts of pregnancy, birth and baby loss, and assessing the health of women.
An example is outlined in the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s ‘Standards for competence for registered midwives’ requirement: providing care for women who have suffered pregnancy loss which is available at the following link:
Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver appropriate treatment for patients.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the value of providing clear referral pathways to high quality, effective and evidence-based specialist psychological support for those experiencing pregnancy and baby loss.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Every part of the country has perinatal mental health services in place and we remain committed to improving and expanding these services. By 2023/24, at least 66,000 women in total with moderate to severe perinatal mental health difficulties will have access to specialist perinatal mental health services. The new services will integrate maternity, reproductive health and psychological therapy for women experiencing moderate-severe or complex mental health difficulties directly arising from, or related to, the maternity experience, including perinatal loss.
The national bereavement care pathway brings together information, tools and resources to support the provision of high quality care for women and their families who experience pregnancy or baby loss, as well as linking to online learning for all healthcare professionals and staff who are involved in the care of a woman who experiences perinatal loss. This can be accessed at the following link:
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve student wellbeing during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Protecting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people continues to be a priority for this government. Access to mental health support is more important than ever during the COVID-19 outbreak. This government is working to promote good mental health in schools and further and higher education settings.
In July, the government announced a £1 billion COVID catch-up package, with £650 million shared across schools over the 2020/21 academic year, to support education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place.
In addition, £8 million has been invested in the ‘Wellbeing for Education Return’ project, providing schools and colleges with the knowledge and practical skills to help improve how to respond to the emotional impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. A link to this programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wellbeing-for-education-return-grant-s31-grant-determination-letter.
I have asked providers to boost their existing welfare and counselling services to ensure support services can be accessed. This is particularly important for those students having to self-isolate or who are affected by local restrictions.
Student Space, funded with £3 million from the Office for Students, provides dedicated support services through a collaborative online platform to help students access vital mental health and wellbeing resources. The platform bridges gaps in support arising from the COVID-19 outbreak and is designed to work alongside existing services. A link to Student Space’s website can be found here: https://studentspace.org.uk/.
We have also asked higher education providers to prioritise the mental health and wellbeing of students, enabling them to use funding, worth up to £23 million per month from April to July this year and £256 million for the academic year 2020/21 starting from August, to go towards student hardship funds and mental health support.
In August, we established a cross-sector COVID Higher Education Taskforce. On 5 October, we agreed to convene a new working group, as a sub-group of the taskforce, with a specific focus on student mental health issues. The group will seek to gather direct feedback from the sector to better understand and address any systemic barriers getting in the way of good support.
The government has provided over £9 million to leading mental health charities to help them expand and reach those most in need and NHS mental health trusts are ensuring 24/7 access to crisis telephone lines to support people of all ages. Public Health England and Health Education England have also developed advice and guidance for parents and professionals to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will (a) provide access to counselling for all children in secondary schools and (b) extend access to counselling in further education colleges.
Answered by Vicky Ford
It is important for schools and colleges to have the freedom to decide what support to offer pupils based on their particular needs and drawing on an evidence base of effective practice. Our survey of mental health provision in schools and colleges in 2016 and 2017 found that 61% of schools and colleges (56% of primary schools, 84% of secondary schools and 93% of colleges) reported offering a counselling service for their pupils.
The department have published guidance on how to put in place effective school-based counselling, which schools can use to identify where further counselling support is appropriate for their pupils. The guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.
As children and young people return to school and college, staff need to be equipped to understand that some pupils may be experiencing feelings, such as anxiety, stress or low mood, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, that these are normal responses to an abnormal situation, and how to respond.
From September, the government is investing £8 million to launch the new Wellbeing for Education Return training programme, which will provide schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and practical skills they need to support teachers, students and parents, to help improve how they respond to the emotional impact of the COIVD-19 outbreak. The programme is providing £8 million to local authorities to enable schools and colleges in England to have access to training during the autumn and spring terms, and expert advisers who will be able to support schools and colleges and can make links to available local authority provision, including counselling.
We have worked hard to ensure that all pupils and learners were able to return to a full
high-quality education programme in September. Our £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up package, with £650 million shared across schools over the 2020-21 academic year, is supporting education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place.
In further education, the department has provided £5.4 million of competitive grant funding to certain colleges through the College Collaboration Fund. Five of the projects funded support student and staff mental health and wellbeing through online programmes and remote support.
Outside of school and college, access to mental health support has been more important than ever during the COVID-19 outbreak. Leading mental health charities are being supported to deliver additional services through the £5 million Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund. During Mental Health Awareness Week, the government also announced that a further
£4.2 million will be awarded to mental health charities, including the Samaritans, Young Minds, and Bipolar UK.
All NHS mental health trusts have ensured that there are 24/7 open access telephone lines to support people of all ages. Public Health England and Health Education England have also developed advice and guidance for parents and professionals on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, which is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing.
In the long-term, we remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS England. This includes introducing new mental health support teams linked to schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) schools and (b) further education providers on the provision of in-house counselling to support the mental health needs of young people following the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Getting children and young people back into education, with settings devoting time to supporting wellbeing, will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s mental health. The return to school will allow social interaction with peers, carers and teachers, which benefits wellbeing. The department has now published detailed plans?for all children and young people to return to full-time education from September, which is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
We have been working hard to ensure that all pupils and learners will return to a full high-quality education programme in September. Our £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up premium, with £650 million shared across schools over the 2020-21 academic year, will support education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place. More information is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/billion-pound-covid-catch-up-plan-to-tackle-impact-of-lost-teaching-time.
As pupils return to school, staff need to be equipped to understand that some children and young people may be experiencing feelings such as anxiety, stress or low mood as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, and that these are normal responses to an abnormal situation. Our Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools Advice includes information about what to look for in terms of underlying mental health issues, linked to the graduated response and the support that might be suitable. More information is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2.
From September, the government is investing £8 million to launch the new Wellbeing for Education Return training programme, which will provide schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and practical skills they need to support teachers, students and parents, to help improve how they respond to the emotional impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. This is additional to ?longer term work to improve support, including?the?new?mental health support teams that we are rolling out?across the country,?linked to schools and colleges. More information is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/8m-programme-to-boost-pupil-and-teacher-wellbeing.
This support will help schools to decide what provision to make for their pupils. Many schools already provide access to some counselling support. The government has produced guidance on how to put in place effective school-based counselling which schools can use where they decide further counselling support is appropriate for their pupils. Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.
Outside of school, access to mental health support has been more important than ever during the COVID-19 outbreak. NHS services remain open. Leading mental health charities are being supported to deliver additional services through the £5 million Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund. During Mental Health Awareness Week, the government also announced that a further £4.2 million will be awarded to mental health charities, including the Samaritans, Young Minds, and Bipolar UK.
All NHS mental health trusts have been asked to ensure that there are 24/7 open access telephone lines to support people of all ages. Public Health England and Health Education England have also developed advice and guidance for parents and professionals on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, which is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to set the Adoption Support Fund on a stable basis rather than making year-by-year announcements; whether they will consider lifting the cap for individual support above £5,000; and whether they plan to extend their support to respite care and psychological support for parents, on the same basis to that currently provided to foster families.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Adoption Support Fund provides funds to local authorities and regional adoption agencies to pay for essential therapeutic services for children who have left the care system either through adoption or special guardianship order. Since its launch in 2015, the Adoption Support Fund has approved £168 million to deliver support, such as therapeutic parenting, creative therapies, and specialist assessments to 59,000 families.
The government acted quickly to establish the Adoption Support Fund COVID-19 Scheme in April 2020, and has provided over £6 million to local authorities and regional adoption agencies to support up to 61,000 families to meet needs arising from the COVID-19 outbreak. The funding included support for activities, such as couples counselling, which would normally be outside the scope of the standard Adoption Support Fund.
On 17 July 2020, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review, which will set out the government’s spending plans for the next three years. The Comprehensive Spending Review will be published in the autumn. We will consider future funding, scope and fair access limits for the Adoption Support Fund as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review discussions.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of Violence Reduction Units in preventing gang and knife crime committed by those from families where there is little or no father involvement.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This government is investing £70m over two years to support the development of Violence Reduction Units. Some VRUs have commissioned targeted initiatives aimed at parents and families which strengthen family-based decision-making, provide counselling support and support those with incarcerated parents. The impact of VRUs’ work will take time to be seen, and evidence from the Glasgow VRU suggests that the effect will be gradual and will accumulate over time.
The Home Office has commissioned an independent process evaluation of VRUs during 2019/20 which will be published later this summer. Evaluation of VRUs during 2020/21 will include both process and impact elements allowing us to investigate how and why any initial impact is occurring. The Youth Violence Commission has welcomed the Government’s commitment to VRUs and the package of challenge and support we have put in place for their success.
Whilst an assessment has not been made of the role of family hubs in preventing knife crime, this government has invested £1.085bn through the Troubled Families programme. The programme, which is delivered by local authorities and their partners, is driving public services to work together to provide effective, coordinated support to our most disadvantaged families. The risk of serious violence is one of the recently added criterion for suitability for the programme.
Similarly, this government has made early intervention and prevention a priority, investing £200 million in initiatives to support young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund. We are also investing £500 million through the new DCMS Youth Investment Fund over five years, helping to build 60 new youth centres across the country, refurbish around 360 existing youth facilities, and provide over 100 mobile facilities for harder to reach areas. The YIF will also support the provision and coordination of high-quality services for young people, and an investment in the youth workforce.v
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the current, and (2) the potential future, role of family hubs in preventing knife crime.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This government is investing £70m over two years to support the development of Violence Reduction Units. Some VRUs have commissioned targeted initiatives aimed at parents and families which strengthen family-based decision-making, provide counselling support and support those with incarcerated parents. The impact of VRUs’ work will take time to be seen, and evidence from the Glasgow VRU suggests that the effect will be gradual and will accumulate over time.
The Home Office has commissioned an independent process evaluation of VRUs during 2019/20 which will be published later this summer. Evaluation of VRUs during 2020/21 will include both process and impact elements allowing us to investigate how and why any initial impact is occurring. The Youth Violence Commission has welcomed the Government’s commitment to VRUs and the package of challenge and support we have put in place for their success.
Whilst an assessment has not been made of the role of family hubs in preventing knife crime, this government has invested £1.085bn through the Troubled Families programme. The programme, which is delivered by local authorities and their partners, is driving public services to work together to provide effective, coordinated support to our most disadvantaged families. The risk of serious violence is one of the recently added criterion for suitability for the programme.
Similarly, this government has made early intervention and prevention a priority, investing £200 million in initiatives to support young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund. We are also investing £500 million through the new DCMS Youth Investment Fund over five years, helping to build 60 new youth centres across the country, refurbish around 360 existing youth facilities, and provide over 100 mobile facilities for harder to reach areas. The YIF will also support the provision and coordination of high-quality services for young people, and an investment in the youth workforce.v
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will place in the Library a list of the workplace benefits that his Department provides to its staff with caring responsibilities.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
DCMS recognises the importance of providing a supportive workplace for employees who have caring responsibilities. Our aim is to enable individuals to undertake their caring responsibilities while at the same time feeling engaged and valued in the workplace.
DCMS has adopted the Civil Service wide Carers' Charter and has the following workplace policies to support carers.
Flexible working and job sharing - to support employees’ work-life balance particularly those with caring responsibilities.
Special leave - policy sets out the provision and entitlements to paid special leave and unpaid career breaks to support employees.
Parental Leave - Parental leave available to working parents to look after their child or to make arrangements for the child’s welfare.
Carer’s Passport- which is a Charity for Civil Servants initiative to help civil servants with specific caring responsibilities.
Internal Carer’s Network - support for carers in the department enabling them to meet other carers and to share issues and information.
Employee Assistance programme - access to advice and counselling.
Foster Carers’ & Family and Friends Carers’ Leave - policy to support employees who care for children under a fostering or family and friends care arrangement.