Yasmin Qureshi

​​The government is committed to improving mental health outcomes for all children and young people, as this is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and learning.

The department, along with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides guidance to schools and colleges on a whole school or college approach to promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/614cc965d3bf7f718518029c/Promoting_children_and_young_people_s_mental_health_and_wellbeing.pdf. The department has also provided a free to access resource hub for mental health leads, which can be found here: https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/.

Over 70% of all schools and colleges have accessed grants from the department to train a senior mental health lead, who develops their knowledge and skills to embed a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing. Information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/senior-mental-health-lead-training. In addition, as of April 2024, Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) cover 44% (4.2 million) of pupils in schools and learners in further education (FE) in England. Coverage of MHSTs is expected to cover at least 50% by the end of March 2025.

A key part of our approach is ensuring the right support is available to every young person that needs it, which is why we have committed to 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 treat children and adults.

For early years settings, the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children have the best start in life and are kept healthy and safe. The EYFS statutory framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.

The department works closely with the FE sector to support providers to develop and implement a whole college approach to mental health and wellbeing. This is supported by the Association of Colleges refreshed Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter, which was published in March 2024.

To raise standards in the higher education sector, the Office for Students has provided £400,000 of funding to the student mental health charity, Student Minds. This has enabled significant expansion of the University Mental Health Charter Programme, with 113 universities now signed up. The programme helps universities to adopt a whole institution approach to mental health.

For too long the education and care system has not met the needs of all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Parents and carers have struggled to get their children the support they need, with many children and young people having to wait far longer than they should for the services they need.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND, or in alternative provision, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department will be focusing on a community-wide approach, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, and ensuring that special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.

We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of moving the enforcement date of the restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, or of providing an exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the regulations, because we are not changing the policy but instead providing legal clarification on an existing aspect of the policy. We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters to voluntarily comply with the restrictions from 1 October 2025, meaning we do not expect to see adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products shown on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm, or at any time online. Therefore, from 1 October, we expect to achieve the outcomes of the policy as planned, which will protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and begin to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.

We received representation from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's revised implementation guidance, and following my written statement of 7 April 2025. This included written correspondence from industry bodies, broadcasters, advertisers, and non-government organisations. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders, and we have worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a resolution that supports economic growth by ensuring that industry has the confidence to invest in advertising that complies with the restrictions, whilst protecting children from advertising of less healthy products.

An impact assessment was published in 2021, along with the laying of the primary legislation, which recognised that brand advertising that did not identify less healthy products is out of the scope of the restrictions. This remains fit-for-purpose, as we are not changing the policy but providing legal clarification on the existing policy.

The Government is committed to tackling the childhood obesity crisis and to raising the healthiest generation of children ever.

The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 were laid during the previous Parliament. The regulations provide for restrictions on the promotion and placement in retail stores and their online equivalents of certain foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt, or sugar, or which are ‘less healthy’.

In 2023, the implementation guidance accompanying these regulations was updated to provide some additional points of clarification, which included removing a reference to the term “minimally processed and nutritious food”. This was done to ensure the guidance remained in-line with the legislation, which does not reference minimally processed food. The legislation itself was not changed and still restricts the promotion of less healthy foods that contribute to childhood obesity. Therefore, no assessment was made of the merits of removing references to “minimally processed and nutritious food” from this document.

We face an obesity crisis, and the Government will take action to tackle the root causes of obesity head on, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.

We have already laid secondary legislation to restrict advertisements of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online, we are limiting school children’s access to fast food, and we are taking steps to ensure the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains effective and fit-for-purpose. We are also commissioning research to improve the evidence on the health impacts of ultra processed foods (UPFs). Through our Plan for Change, we will shift the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, reducing the burden of obesity on public services and the NHS.

Scientific risk assessment and United Kingdom dietary recommendations are based on robust independent risk assessments by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). The SACN has considered the impact of processed foods on health in position statements published in 2023 and 2025. The SACN has concluded that the observed associations between higher consumption of processed foods and UPFs and adverse health outcomes are concerning.

The SACN recommended that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and which are low in fibre. This is based on the nutrient content of many UPFs and concerns raised in relation to health. The SACN will continue to keep the topic under review.

Current UK dietary recommendations, based on the SACN’s advice, already indicate that many foods classified as ultra processed such as crisps, biscuits, cakes, confectionery, and ice cream are not part of a healthy, balanced diet. They also emphasise a diet based on fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain or higher fibre starchy carbohydrates, with less red and processed meat, and with less foods high in saturated fat, salt, and free sugars.

The SACN’s recommendation aligns with our existing policies for supporting healthier diets and our advice to consumers. Further action on obesity under the Government’s Health Mission will be set out in due course.

The Government is committed to tackling the childhood obesity crisis and to raising the healthiest generation of children ever.  Department officials regularly engage with a range of external stakeholders on diet and obesity policies.

The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 were laid during the previous Parliament. The regulations provide for restrictions on the promotion and placement in retail stores, and their online equivalents, of certain foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt, or sugar, or that are ‘less healthy’.

The Department recently responded to a freedom of information request asking for details of any correspondence between the Department and the Food and Drink Federation relating to a change made to the implementation guidance in 2023 that accompanies these regulations. The relevant information was released pertaining to a decision to exclude the term ‘minimally processed and nutritious food' from the guidance. The information released has since been made available online. There are no plans to publish further information at present.

The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR launched a research call in July 2024 on the health and health inequality impacts of interventions that effect consumption of ultra processed foods, for which a funding decision will be made later this year. Findings from NIHR studies are made publicly available when the research has completed.

We have committed to develop a 10 Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. While it is too soon to say exactly what will be in the plan, it will set out how we shift health and care systems in England from analogue to digital systems. Subject to Parliamentary approval, new laws are set to be introduced to make NHS patient health records available across all NHS trusts, general practice surgeries, and ambulance services in England, speeding up patient care, reducing repeat medical tests, and minimising medication errors.

91% of trusts have an Electronic Patient Record (EPR), with work underway to provide support to the remaining nineteen trusts which do not have an EPR.

The Department has provided £113 million, through the NHS AI Health and Care Awards, to 86 artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which have been live in 40% of National Health Service acute trusts in England and hundreds of primary care networks across the United Kingdom. This funding is helping us to generate the evidence needed to deploy effective AI tools across the NHS and improve the lives and health outcomes of our population.

Many of these AI technologies are being tested and evaluated to aid healthcare diagnostics. For example, AI is being used to analyse and interpret acute stroke brain scans, to support doctors making treatment decisions in 100% of stroke units in England. In addition, the Department is focusing the £21 million AI Diagnostic Fund on the deployment of technologies in key, high-demand areas such as chest X-ray and chest computed tomography scans, to enable faster diagnosis of lung cancer in over half of acute trusts in England.

Despite these exciting examples of AI use, deployment of AI in the NHS is still at a relatively early stage. To address this, the Department is carrying out work to assess the barriers of effective adoption and improve the way AI tools are deployed across the NHS.

NHS England has supported over 160 trusts with digital transformation, which includes the implementation of Electronic Patient Records. Currently, we have achieved a 91% rollout of Electronic Patient Records, with work underway to provide tailored support to the remaining 19 trusts that do not yet have an Electronic Patient Record.

The Digital Maturity Assessment was also successfully completed in May 2024, with a 100% response rate from secondary care organisations and integrated care systems. This assessment provides a baseline and a holistic view of digital maturity across National Health Service trusts in England. The assessment will be run yearly to track progress and identify areas for improvement.

The National Health Service is already home to world-first digital innovation, with NHS England supporting the rollout of key products, many of which support the shift to prevention and early diagnosis. Examples include the world's first certified autonomous artificially intelligent (AI) diagnostic tool, which can triage patients with suspected skin cancer, as well as digital innovations supporting people struggling with mental health and musculoskeletal issues to gain or remain in employment.

NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and the Department are developing a rules based pathway (RBP) for medical technology in the NHS. The RBP aims to create a clear, consistent, and efficient process for evaluating and adopting medical technologies, including digital technologies, in the NHS.

The Early Detection using Information Technology in Health, or EDITH trial, announced in February 2025, is backed by £11 million of Government support via the National Institute for Health and Care Research. It is the latest example of how British scientists are transforming cancer care, building on the promising potential of cutting-edge innovations to tackle one of the United Kingdom’s biggest killers.

Between October 2021 and May 2023 funding was invested in a risk-stratification tool to identify women who are at most risk of developing life-threatening and life-altering complications of pre-eclampsia.

Between October 2020 and September 2023, the Department invested £1.9 million in an AI stroke technology, capable of automatically processing acute stroke computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scans, which can provide real-time, clinically useful information in the acute stroke setting, leading to faster decisions.

Between October 2020 and September 2021 funding was invested towards generating a toolkit prototype which can automatically generate placental metrics from a 3D-US scan. These can be combined with other known risk factors and blood results to generate a multi-factorial screening test for fetal growth restriction, which is the single most common cause of stillbirth.

The deployment of AI in the NHS is still at a relatively early stage, with many AI tools being used in a research capacity. To address this, the Department is carrying out work, with NHS England, to assess the barriers of safe, ethical, and effective adoption, and improve the way AI tools are deployed and used in the NHS across England.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care discusses a range of diet and obesity-related issues with Government colleagues. Supporting people to stay healthier for longer is at the heart of the Government’s Health Mission, which aims to reduce the amount of time spent in ill health, tackle health inequalities, and drive economic growth. This includes taking bold action to tackle the childhood obesity crisis and create the healthiest generation of children ever.

The Government has committed to banning junk food advertising to children. The regulations introduce a 9:00pm watershed for the advertisement of less healthy food or drink products on television, and a total restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online.

The Government welcomes the recent action that has been taken at local level to ban junk food advertising across public transport networks and public spaces that are controlled by local authorities.

It is unacceptable that too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. That is why we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across both adult and children and young people’s mental health services. We are discussing our future investment in children and young people’s mental health services.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Department for Education to consider how to deliver our manifesto commitment of accessing a specialist mental health professional in every school. We need to ensure any support meets the needs of young people, teachers, parents, and carers. This includes considering the role of existing programmes of support with evidence of a positive impact, such as Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges.

Alongside this we are working toward rolling out Young Futures hubs in every community, offering open access mental health services for young people.

The Mental Health Bill currently before Parliament will deliver the Government’s commitment to modernise the Mental Health Act 1983, so that it is fit for the 21st century. The Bill will amend the Act, which applies to England and Wales, and give patients detained under the Act greater choice, autonomy, rights, and support.

The forthcoming Mental Health Bill will strengthen the rights of children and young people, to ensure they are involved in decisions about their care, that they can challenge these decisions and, above all, ensure that they are only detained for treatment in hospital when it is absolutely necessary. NHS England is working to minimise the number of children and young people informally admitted to inpatient mental health care.

Subject to the passage of the Bill through Parliament, it is proposed that children and young people formally detained under the Mental Health Act will have statutory Care and Treatment Plans, the right to choose a ‘Nominated Person’ to look after their interests and expanded access to Independent Mental Health Advocates. The latter will also apply to voluntary patients who are not detained under the Act.

We are working towards our commitment of doubling cancer scanners to address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times. Our commitment is related to magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography (CT) but of course we are also considering what increase in PET Computed Tomography (PET-CT) capacity is needed to accelerate cancer diagnosis and build a National Health Service fit for the future.

Department officials have had a number of conversations with colleagues in NHS England about their plans to support the adoption of any licensed and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

The NICE is currently developing guidance for the National Health Service on the use of several potential new medicines for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, and is currently consulting on its draft guidance for the use of lecanemab. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is right that they are taken independently, on the basis of the available evidence of costs and benefits. We understand how disappointing the NICE’s draft guidance will be to all those affected, but we need to make sure that the resources of the NHS are spent in a way that provides the most health benefit to society. The NICE’s draft recommendations are now open to consultation, and the NICE will take the comments received fully into account when developing its final guidance.

There are no current plans to review the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate. Approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there are a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for which those with chronic kidney disease or in receipt of a kidney transplant may be eligible. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.

People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme. Prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) are also available. PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with three month and 12-month certificates available. The 12-month PPC can be paid for in instalments.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has made up to £2.4 billion available to support the additional education and training expansion across the plan up to 2028/29. This settlement pre-empted the next spending review. Revenue funding for the increase of undergraduate dental training places up to 2028/29 is provided within this. Decisions about funding beyond 2028/29, will be considered at a later date.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has made up to £2.4 billion available to support the additional education and training expansion across the plan up to 2028/29. This settlement pre-empted the next spending review. Revenue funding for the increase of undergraduate dental training places up to 2028/29 is provided within this. Decisions about funding beyond 2028/29, will be considered at a later date.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has made up to £2.4 billion available to support the additional education and training expansion across the plan up to 2028/29. This settlement pre-empted the next spending review. Revenue funding for the increase of undergraduate dental training places up to 2028/29 is provided within this. Decisions about funding beyond 2028/29, will be considered at a later date.

The Department for Education is responsible for capital investment in Higher Education Institutions, including dental schools, and we will work closely with them on this matter. Specific programmes of capital funding to support dental school expansion are subject to the upcoming spending review.

Primodos is one of three areas Baroness Cumberlege was asked to look into as part of her Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Review, which reported in 2020. Since the report was published, action has been taken to address the issues identified, including appointing the first Patient Safety Commissioner to champion patient voice in relation to the safety of medicines and medical devices.

We are hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they or their children have suffered following the use of hormone pregnancy tests. It is not currently the Government’s intention to review the Report of the Commission on Human Medicines; however we are committed to reviewing any new scientific evidence which may come to light.