Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made on the contribution of statutory PHSE to supporting young people with mental health issues.

Schools play an important role in promoting good mental health and supporting children and young people facing difficulties. In the introduction to the national curriculum, we have made clear that all schools should make provision for PSHE.

The Department funded the PSHE Association to publish guidance on teaching about mental health in PSHE. This was published in March 2015 and is available online: www.pshe-association.org.uk/resources. Our Mental Health and Behaviour advice helps teachers to identify and support pupils with mental health needs, including advice on making referrals to specialist services when appropriate. Our blueprint for school counselling services provides schools with practical, evidence-based advice on how to deliver high quality school based counselling.

The government has made children and young people’s mental health support a priority. We are investing an additional £1.4bn in children and young people’s and perinatal mental health services over the next 5 years. We are also contributing £1.5m to a joint pilot for training single points of contact in schools and specialist mental health services; and, through a dedicated mental health strand within our VCS programme, we are providing £4.9m of funding this year to support 17 projects delivering a wide range of support across the country to children and young people with mental health issues.