Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of schools and colleges in England are covered by the 59 Mental Health Support Teams currently in operation.

To provide increased access to support for children and young people with emerging mental health problems, in and around schools and colleges, we have committed to establish new Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in 20% to 25% of the country by 2023. This is part of the reforms to provide additional support for children and young people’s mental health in the NHS Long Term Plan. Where already established, MHSTs are adapting their services to continue supporting children and young people remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak.

• Over 180 MHSTs have been established or are in development across the country. Once fully operational they will cover 15% of pupils.
• A further 104 teams are in the process of being established in financial year 2020/21. This will bring the total number of MHSTs to over 280.
• A further 112 teams will be established in financial year 2021/22, totalling around 400 teams providing support to an estimated 3 million children and young people (around 35% of pupils in England), by 2023.