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 support charity-run mental health counselling services for (a) children and (b) adolescents.

In general, funding for mental health services, such as counselling, is the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Some CCGs may choose to use non-National Health Service providers, including those run by charities. It is up to the local CCG to make commissioning decisions.

The Department does directly provide funding to third sector organisations through the voluntary, community and social enterprise organisation (VCSE) Health and Wellbeing Programme, which launched in 2016, replacing the previous VCSE grant funding and engagement programmes. A key part of the programme is the Health and Wellbeing Fund, and the theme for the Fund in 2019-20 is children and young people’s mental health. More information can be found at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/vcse-health-and-wellbeing-fund-2019-to-2020-how-to-apply