PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Children and Young People: Mental Illness (15 June 2016)

Children and young people’s mental health is a priority for the Department. We have high aspirations for all children and young people and we want them to be able to fulfil their potential. Good mental health is core to them achieving that outcome. To help children and young people maintain good mental health and access support when they need it, we provide a range of information, tools and guidance to enable schools and colleges to provide appropriate direct support for their pupils and to work collaboratively with health services and other providers.

When diagnosable mental health problems occur, schools and colleges need to be able to refer pupils to specialist support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS), voluntary organisations and local GPs. To improve coordination between services the Department for Education and NHS England have run a joint £3m pilot between schools and CAMHS in 255 schools across 27 Clinical Commissioning Groups. This pilot aimed to improve knowledge and understanding of mental health issues, develop and maintain effective joint working practices and to test the concept of having a 'single point of contact' in both schools and CAMHS. The outcomes from the pilot are being independently evaluated and a full report is expected by the end of this year with early findings very positive. We are currently working on plans to both extend the reach of the pilots and scale up activity in existing areas.

We have published a blueprint for school counselling services which provides schools with practical, evidence-based advice, informed by schools and by counselling experts, on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling to support those pupils with particular needs: www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools

To help teachers to identify those pupils who need help we have issued advice on behaviour and mental health[1]. In addition we funded the PSHE Association (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education)[2] to provide mental health guidance and lesson plans which support age-appropriate teaching, dealing with emotions and helping teachers to talk to children about their anxieties and worries.

Whilst not an alternative to professional interventions, peer support programmes have the potential to provide effective additional support for pupils facing anxiety issues or other concerns. We are looking at encouraging the provision of quality peer support in schools and colleges, community groups and online. We have announced £1.5m of funding for this work, and are currently reviewing the findings from a national call for evidence.

[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2

[2] www.pshe-association.org.uk