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 relationship between the findings of the interim report of the Independent Report into Young People and Work, led by Alan Milburn, and waiting lists for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and adult community mental health services.

The Department welcomes the interim report of the Independent Review into Young People and Work led by Alan Milburn, which provides an important assessment of the drivers of youth inactivity. The report highlights that ill health, including mental health, is now a primary driver of young people becoming and remaining not in education, employment, or training and the need for flexibility in how services respond to the needs and circumstances of young people.

The Government recognises the strong relationship between mental health and labour market participation, and that poor mental health can contribute to disengagement from education and work.

The interim report is diagnostic and does not set out final recommendations. The Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Department for Work and Pensions and others to consider its findings, as well as the challenges and opportunities it presents, and will do the same for the final report published later this year.

Demand for children and young people’s mental health services has increased significantly in recent years, and waiting lists remain a key challenge, with delays in accessing support affecting outcomes and life chances. Improving mental health outcomes for children and young people is a key objective of the forthcoming cross-Government Mental Health Strategy. The strategy will be informed by a range of evidence, including the Milburn Review and the independent review into prevalence and support for mental health, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The strategy will look beyond the National Health Service and consider the role of schools, workplaces, the voluntary sector and local government in promoting positive mental health and supporting earlier understanding. It will build on existing commitments to increase access to mental health support for children and young people, including expanding Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges to full coverage by 2029, and reducing the longest waits for specialist children and young people’s mental health services by tackling variation across the country and reducing inequalities in access.

The Keep Britain Working Report, published in November 2025, identified a “culture of fear” in workplaces around health and disability and highlighted disparities across different workplaces in the United Kingdom in the levels of effective support for employees and employers. This lack of support can compound the issue of fear which results in a system that does not serve employees. However, it also set out the vital role employers can play in addressing this.

The Department for Work and Pensions is now working with volunteer employers, providers, and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches to help disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions, including mental health conditions, receive the support they need to remain and thrive in employment. These include developing effective stay in work and return to work practices, and building the evidence needed to spread good practice.