Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their report Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2017, published on 22 November, what assessment they have made of the roll out of Designated Senior Leads and mental health support teams; and what timetable has been set for the roll out of those initiatives to all schools in England.

We remain committed to rolling out our new approach as set out in the Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health, including creating Designated Senior Leads in schools and new mental health support teams, to at least a fifth to a quarter of the country by the end of 2022/23. The first wave of trainees who will staff the mental health support teams start training in January 2019. The first wave of mental health support teams will be fully operational by the end of 2019.

We will test and pilot the implementation of the Green Paper plans to ensure we learn as we go. Data about the prevalence of mental health conditions in Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2017 will be used as part of the evidence base to inform all planning and activity around children and young people’s mental health, including the roll-out of the Green Paper plans. The precise roll-out will also be informed by the evaluation of the initial trailblazers.