Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of early support in mental health services for young people.

The Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health announced specific and additional provision of mental health support for children and young people with mild to moderate mental health issues in schools and colleges. This will be through creation of new mental health support teams who will work in or close to schools and colleges. The Green Paper also announced the piloting of a four week waiting time in a number of trailblazer areas to improve access to specialist services, and incentivising all schools and colleges to put a senior designated lead for mental health in place.

We are also aiming for an additional 70,000 children and young people a year to receive access to specialist mental health treatment by 2020/21 and have put waiting time standards in place for children and young people’s mental health (around eating disorders and early intervention in psychosis). We are either on track to meet or exceeding these waiting time standards.

The Government has also spent £150 million expanding eating disorder community-based care for children and young people. As a result, 70 dedicated new or extended community services are now either open or in development. This means at least 3,350 children and young people a year will receive swift, effective eating disorder treatment in the community.