Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Department for Education press release 'Schools and colleges to benefit from boost in expert mental health support', published on 10 May, what is the percentage of schools that will benefit, by the end of the 2021-22 academic year, from (1) the accelerated roll-out of Mental Health Support Teams, (2) the new training for senior mental health leads, and (3) both of these initiatives.

The government estimates that around 400 Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), covering an estimated 3 million children and young people (around 35% of pupils and students in England), will be in place in schools and colleges by 2023. Over 180 MHSTs have already been established across the country covering approximately 15% of the pupil and student population in England, and we expect teams to reach 20-25% coverage by the end of financial year 2021/22 – a year earlier than originally planned.

A grant for senior mental health lead training will become available at the start of the new academic year 2021/22, enabling up to 7800 schools and colleges (approximately a third of all schools and colleges) to access training to help them implement a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing before 31 March 2022. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing. Funding beyond 1 April 2022 is subject to future government spending decisions and as schools and colleges are yet to apply for a senior mental health lead training grants, no data is available on the percentage of schools and colleges receiving both MHST support, and senior mental health lead training.