Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to (a) formally recognise accredited school-based counsellors as part of the children’s mental health workforce and (b) integrate those counsellors into (i) NHS and (ii) education-based mental health services.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school, through expanding NHS-funded mental health support teams, so that every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. We are working with our colleagues at NHS England and the Department for Education to consider options to deliver this commitment.

Department for Education guidance encourages mental health support teams to work with other existing professionals, such as school or college-based counsellors, educational psychologists, school nurses, pastoral care, educational welfare officers, voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, local authority provision, primary care, and NHS children and young people’s mental health services.

It is important for schools to have the freedom to decide what support to offer to pupils based on their needs, drawing on an evidence base of effective practice. This support can include counselling, which can be an effective part of a whole school approach. However, counselling is not suitable for all needs and many pupils also benefit from other in-school support, including from trained pastoral staff and educational psychologists.

In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.