Youth Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Support

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Alison McGovern]

I wholeheartedly agree with that point. We need to move to a system where children and young people are able to get support quickly, in an open, non-stigmatising way, so that we do not see them reach crisis point. That is the direction of travel that the Fonagy review suggested last week, and we will take it forward through the mental health strategy.

I am conscious that the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon (Gregory Stafford), asked me some direct questions, including about funding. I want to respond to his point and the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards). There has been a real problem with short-term funding. Again, we need to think about what principles we should put in place to try to resolve that. We know that the best care and support from a mental health point of view often comes from the community and voluntary sector, and Members have described quite accurately what the funding environment has been like—too short term. I ask colleagues to work with me as we try to get to a better, more long-term arrangement.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Earlier this month, Linking Hope hosted an upstream suicide prevention training event in Derby South. It does fantastic work with voluntary groups, charities and members of the public. Does my hon. Friend agree that the stronger those links are, the better we are all equipped to help young people in this area?

[Alison McGovern]

I agree that connectivity between organisations is really important. One of the things that the suicide prevention strategy has said is that preventing suicide is everybody’s business. We all need to have that in our minds and work together across organisations to support people.

My hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) asked me about ketamine use. The suicide prevention strategy identified substance misuse as an issue for suicide prevention, and I will be working very closely with colleagues across Government to try to support their work on substance misuse. The shadow Minister asked about evaluation, and I will write to him with the details on that. He is quite right to point out that it is extremely important that we understand the efficacy of what has been done before, so that we can bring that into the mental health strategy to come.

The hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers) asked about the mental health investment standard. I will write to him with the details of how we are taking that forward. Spending forecasts show that we should reach £16.1 billion on mental health in 2026-27, which is a good thing. I have concerns about outcomes, because it is very important that while spending increases, recovery also increases. We want to make sure that we see continuous improvement in outcomes from those spending increases, particularly for some of the conditions that are most stigmatised—schizophrenia, bipolar and other conditions where we have not seen the better outcomes that we have for conditions that people find easier to talk about.

A number of hon. Members, including the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney), asked whether I would meet them to discuss this topic, matters in their constituency or organisations that they have supported. My time for meeting MPs is Wednesday after Prime Minister’s questions, and if a Member of Parliament asks me to meet, I will meet. Please get in touch via the Department, and I will be happy to meet all hon. Members who wish me to. Members have also mentioned Samaritans and its number, 116 123, which is there to support those who need it. The NHS 111 service with the mental health option can also be used when people need that support. I wholeheartedly encourage us all to keep helping people to know where they can reach that support if they need it.

Of course, we do not want children and young people to get to a crisis point. I hear from schools and teachers again and again about how they need support to make sure that they are addressing challenges where they come up for young people. That is why I am pleased with the progress being made through our mental health support teams in schools and colleges. The latest data shows that nearly 6 million pupils and learners are now covered by a mental health support team—about 60% of pupils and learners in England. We obviously have more to do, because we want coverage to be complete by 2029, but we are making progress. We are also investing in early support hubs, which a number of hon. Members have mentioned. They will provide that community-based, destigmatising support. Again, we have more progress to make on that.

I want to finish by saying that it has been good and important to hear about hon. Members’ experiences with their constituents on this issue. We all want to work together to make sure that we can find any possible solution to what has happened with Papyrus. I suggest that we meet again shortly to discuss that, but my final message is really for any young person out there: you are not by yourself. You are not alone; reach out for help and you will be able to move forward, so please do reach out.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered Government support for youth suicide prevention charities and mental health support for young people.

Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Westminster Hall

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friend and very good friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) for securing this important debate and for his tireless campaigning on the issue, which I know is close to his heart. It cannot be at all easy.

According to Beat, one in 50 people in the UK are living with an eating disorder. Among 17 to 19-year-olds, the figure rises to a staggering one in eight. These are not just statistics. Behind every single number is a person struggling with what is often the most difficult moment in their life; behind them are families and friends who are heartbroken as they watch their loved one deteriorate.

We hear about GPs who, through no fault of their own, have received minimal training on these disorders and have just 10 minutes with their patients to make life-altering decisions. We know the cost of delayed treatment: longer recoveries, deeper relapses and, in most cases, lost lives. That is why early support is so vital. In my constituency, Derby-based charity First Steps ED is leading the way, from delivering body image workshops in schools and across Derby and Derbyshire to its brilliant Scroll Safe campaign.

[Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)]

I strongly endorse what my hon. Friend says. The majority of the people First Steps ED support are children and young people, but sadly demand is at a record high, outpacing the support available. I welcome the additional funding that the Government are giving to these services, but does my hon. Friend agree that ensuring early support for young patients is vital and cannot be left to charities alone?

[Baggy Shanker]

That is the point that I was just about to make. It is absolutely vital that Government support be available, because the charity sector alone cannot be left to provide that support and fill the gap. We need a national response that matches the scale of the challenge that we face.

I welcome the Government’s commitment to expanding community-based disorder services, but I urge the Minister to act swiftly. We know what works: early interventions, properly trained professionals and joined-up care that is close to home—a point that some hon. Members have made already. What we need now is urgency, because behind every delayed referral and every missed diagnosis is a life at risk.

Auditory Verbal Therapy

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson) for raising this incredibly important topic and securing the debate.

You may not know this, but Derby and Derbyshire have the largest deaf community outside of London. The Royal School for the Deaf Derby sits in the neighbouring constituency of Derby North, and the staff do an absolutely fantastic job supporting deaf children and young people to access the very best education they can. However, despite the work of such specialist schools, deaf children nationally face huge educational inequality, which is compounded by the lack of access to critical therapies such as auditory verbal therapy. It is staggering that only 38% of deaf children in England completed their first year of school having achieved their expected levels of development, compared with 66% of all children.

We have seen huge strides forward in support for our deaf community, with pioneering gene therapy delivered just last year, allowing a UK girl who was born deaf to hear unaided. Medical professionals across the country should rightly be recognised for their hard work in delivering such innovative treatments to support our deaf community. These success stories should be celebrated, but unfortunately access to critical therapies and support is often unequal, with less than 10% of deaf children in the UK currently able to access them.

Auditory visual therapy is one of those inequalities. Children in the east midlands and across the UK are missing out on the benefits it can offer. As we have heard today, those benefits are life-changing, with research showing that 80% of deaf children can achieve age-appropriate spoken language following AVT. They are missing out on an incredible opportunity.

Let us be really honest: it is no surprise that the provision of AVT is a postcode lottery, because years of Tory austerity have brought the NHS to its knees. I have been so pleased to see our Labour Government turning the page on that austerity nightmare, committing to the biggest NHS funding uplift since 2010, outside covid. It is vital that AVT provision sees the benefits of Labour’s investment in our public services, supporting deaf children and their families, wherever they live in the UK.

Income Tax (Charge)

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a privilege to contribute to today’s debate on the first Labour Budget delivered in more than 15 years. Let me start by welcoming the unwavering focus of the Chancellor and her team on improving the lives of working people by investing in our public services. This Government have not ducked the difficult decisions, as the previous Government did, but confronted them. We have committed to rebuilding our country and its public services, prioritising the lives and livelihoods of working people in doing so. That is why I take immense pride in rising to speak today to discuss this Labour Budget.

Having served since 2008 as a Derby City councillor, and with my wife working in the NHS, we have seen at first hand the impact of Tory austerity, which, as Lord Darzi has highlighted, caused our NHS to face its most austere decade and has pushed many local authorities to the brink. In my constituency, the Florence Nightingale community hospital delivers critical health and care services to Derby residents, ranging from in-patient rehabilitation to palliative care. Services such as those provided by the Florence Nightingale Community Hospital must be protected. That is why I was delighted to hear the Chancellor announce the largest real-terms growth in day-to-day NHS spending outside of covid since 2010.

With the record funding announced for our NHS and the investment across our public services, there is much to welcome in the Budget. Although it marks the start of a welcome new chapter, delivering long-term stability and much-needed change, it is important that working people feel the positive impact of this Labour Government.

Continuing the focus on public service, I turn to the matter of the settlements for local authorities in the Budget. As in every constituency, our council plays an important role in providing for families and individuals who are facing specific challenges, whether that be in social care, housing or the availability of SEND provision. Given that crucial role, and the cost and demand pressures that are not unique to Derby but face councils across the UK, I welcome the Chancellor’s announcement of an additional £1.3 billion of funding.

I close by again welcoming the Chancellor’s Budget, which last week took responsible if difficult decisions to redress the Tory budget deficit and begin rebuilding Britain.