Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve support for children and young people with mental health issues.

This Government is committed to improving children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. The Department is working with NHS England and other partners to enhance significantly the support offered to children and young people.

We are already making progress in a number of areas including:

- The extension and expansion of the children and young people’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

- Joint training and piloting of staff in schools and local mental health services to strengthen the mental health support and advice available in schools.

The Department is also commissioning the first prevalence survey of child and adolescent mental health in over 10 years. The survey will provide an accurate assessment of how many children and young people are living with mental health issues. Publication is anticipated in 2017.

In addition, NHS England is leading work to develop new access and waiting time standards for eating disorder services.