Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce a national wellbeing measure for children to provide local authorities and national policymakers with data for the purpose of improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever, giving mental health the same attention as physical health. We are reforming the National Health Service and have committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. The Government will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.
There are no current plans to introduce a national wellbeing measure for children. The Office for National Statistics publishes a range of children’s wellbeing measures. The Department maintains ongoing monitoring of the national data landscape and research on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, to support its policy making.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Children's Society's The Good Childhood Report 2023, published on 20 September, what steps the Department of Health and Social Care's Major Conditions Strategy will take to prevent poor mental health and promote wellbeing in children and young people.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
As part of the development of the Major Conditions Strategy, we are considering the most effective ways to prevent and treat poor mental health and promote wellbeing for people of all ages. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, the public and the National Health Service to identify actions that will have the most impact.