Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will establish an inquiry into delays in the NHS providing (a) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and (b) any other services related to children's mental health.

We recognise that many children and young people are currently experiencing significant delays in accessing mental health support and we are taking action to address this, as committed to in the 10-Year Health Plan. This includes providing mental health support for almost one million more young people in school this year and an extra £688 million in Government funding this year to transform mental health services, to hire more staff, deliver more early interventions, and get waiting lists down.

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 is recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament. Almost 8,000 of these workers have been recruited since July 2024, which will help to ease pressure on busy mental health services. We will publish a refreshed workforce plan later this year to ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places to care for patients when they need it.

Additionally, we are also accelerating the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools to achieve full national coverage by 2029. This includes investing £13 million to pilot enhanced training for staff, so that they can offer more support to young people with complex needs, such as trauma, neurodivergence, and disordered eating.