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Written question asked by David Drew (Labour) on Monday, 4 February 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 February 2019 (named day). It was answered by Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative) on Thursday, 7 February 2019 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Counselling: Young People

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase the accessibility of counselling for young people (a) with mental health problems and (b) that are at risk of taking their own lives.

Answer

The NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, announced that that by 2023/24 an extra 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 will receive mental health support via National Health Service-funded mental health services and school or college-based Mental Health Support Teams by 2023/24. Under the Long Term Plan, mental health services will continue to receive a growing share of the NHS budget, with funding to grow by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. For the first time, funding for children and young people’s mental health services will grow faster than both overall NHS funding and total mental health spending. Setting up 24/7 crisis care provision for children, young people and their families is a key priority for the Government in the NHS Long Term Plan. All children and young people experiencing crisis will be able to access crisis care 24 hours a day, seven days a week by 2023/24 via NHS111.

The Government published the first Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan last month which sets out an ambitious programme to reduce suicides, including in children and young people. This can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicide-prevention-cross-government-plan

In line with the commitments set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, on 20 December the Government announced the first wave of 25 trailblazer sites that will test the plans set out in ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper’, published in December 2017. These new plans will significantly increase the availability of mental health support to children and young people, including creating new Mental Health Support Teams working in and near schools and colleges to support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health conditions. Mental Health Support Teams will provide brand new services situated in schools and colleges and are intended to offer earlier help and intervention.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
216133
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Counselling Mental illness Young people Suicide
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk