Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) intergenerational inequality and (b) socio-economic status on mental health.

We recognise that many young people are particularly struggling with their mental health, and we know that socio-economic factors play an important role in supporting positive mental health and wellbeing.

That is why, as part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England and create a network of open access community Young Futures hubs. We will also recruit 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult services to ease pressure on busy mental health services.

The Get Britain Working White Paper confirms the Government’s commitment to continuing to expand the number of places on Individual Placement Support schemes to help thousands more people with severe mental illness find and stay in employment, helping to interrupt the vicious cycle between poverty and mental illness.

Beyond this, we are taking a whole-of-Government approach to mental health and working with other Government departments to address intergenerational inequality and the socioeconomic determinants of mental health through the vehicle of the Government’s missions.