Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) national and (b) localised schemes have been devised by his Department to improve Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services; and which external organisations or associations are involved in those schemes.

Local National Health Service children and young people’s mental health services are the responsibility of local mental health trusts, funded by local clinical commissioning groups, which all work to improve local provision in each area, through local transformation plans, with a range of external partners.

In terms of national programmes to improve children and young people’s mental health services, the NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019, commits to ensuring that by 2023/24, at least an additional 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 will be able to access support via NHS-funded mental health services and school– or college-based mental health support teams. The Plan also commits to 24/7 mental health crisis provision for children and young people that combines crisis assessment, brief response and intensive home treatment functions and there will be a comprehensive offer for 0-25 year olds that reaches across mental health services for children, young people and adults.