Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve community mental health services for young people in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) England.

The Department recognises that children and young people, including in the Beckenham and Penge constituency, often face long waits for mental health support and are not receiving the care they need. We know that if that is to change, early intervention and prevention support in the community is vital. That is why we are providing £7 million of funding to extend support for 24 Early Support Hubs that have a track record of helping thousands of young people in their community.

Building on this to go further, we are committed to providing open access mental health support for children and young people through Young Futures Hubs. Working with colleagues from across Government, we intend that the evidence and insights collected through our Early Support Hubs evaluation will support the delivery of Young Futures Hubs. This learning will inform our ambitions for community mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people, and ensure that they have access to the kinds of support they need.

The Government will also recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across child and adult mental health services and provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school through expanding Mental Health Support Teams, so that every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.