Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the Transforming mental health services for children who have experienced abuse or neglect report published by the NSPCC on 4 September 2018, which found that just 14 per cent of CCG's Local Transformation Plans contained an adequate needs assessment of abused and neglected children.

The mental health of children and young people, including of the most vulnerable, remains a priority for this Government. Local transformation plans are designed to meet the needs of all children and must set out local priorities from across the full spectrum of mental health services - from prevention and resilience building to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services. Children and young people should expect to have access to appropriate support based on their individual needs.

The precise content of local transformation plans is a decision for local commissioners, based on the needs of their population. Individual local transformation plans will not necessarily cover every issue that can effect mental health and wellbeing, and they should be seen in context alongside other local protocols and safeguarding policies.

NHS England are aware of the report and have concerns about its methodology, which have been raised previously with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The report identifies local transformation plans that lack specific wording or planning on abused children, and erroneously infers needs are not being met. The lack of reference to specific issue in a local transformation plan does not mean no action is being taken.

Improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people requires organisations and individuals across the whole system to play their part, particularly when it comes to prevention and early intervention. NHS England has put significant resource into supporting integration and encouraging the clinical commissioning groups to develop local transformation plans with local authorities and schools and voluntary sector.

NHS England published a comprehensive quantitative analysis of local transformation plans in March 2016, and in August 2016 it published a thematic review of them. This review included detailed analysis of developing models and approaches to identification and management of children and young people with extra vulnerability to mental health problems including those who have experienced abuse or neglect.