Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve access to community-based mental health support for low-income families with children.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is unacceptable that many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care and support they need, and we know that waiting times for mental health services are far too long. We are determined to change that.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government will recruit 8,500 additional staff across children and adult mental health services, introduce a specialist mental health professional in every school, and roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce stress for children in poverty in schools and other educational settings in order to improve their mental health outcomes, and how they will assess the effectiveness of interventions in this area.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

Child poverty has gone up by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children’s lives now, but it also damages their future prospects and holds back the economic potential of the country.

My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced the appointment of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education to be the joint leads of a new ministerial taskforce to begin work on a child poverty strategy. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, to tackle the root causes and give every child the best start at life.

This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and learning. The right support should be available to every young person that needs it, which is why the government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.

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 speed-up access to treatment for children and adults.