Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help provide mental health support in schools for young people suffering from eating disorders.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Having an eating disorder can often be devastating for young people suffering with the condition, as well as for those around them, which is why the department wants to ensure they have access to the right support, in the right place and at the right time.

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Schools play a vital role in children’s mental health by promoting wellbeing and providing early targeted support and the department is committed to helping them do so effectively.

The department’s statutory health education curriculum, which should be taught in all schools from primary, includes a strong focus on mental health. This includes teaching pupils how to identify the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns and where and how to seek support if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental health. As part of the secondary health curriculum, schools can teach pupils how to be safe and healthy and manage their lives in a positive way, seeking support when needed. They can also teach about eating disorders, drawing on qualified support or advice as needed for this specialist area. The statutory guidance for relationships, sex and health education is currently under review. The department will be carrying out a full public consultation on the new guidance as soon as possible, and will be considering what more the department can do to strengthen content on eating disorders.

Early intervention is key when a child or young person is experiencing a mental health issue, including problems with eating. To expand access to early mental health support, including supporting schools in liaising with specialist services regarding eating disorders, the department is continuing to roll out Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to schools and colleges. As of April 2024, MHSTs now cover 44% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England. The department is extending coverage of MHSTs to at least 50% of pupils and learners by the end of March 2025.

Since 2016, extra funding has also gone into children and young people's community eating disorder services every year, with £53 million per year from 2021/22, rising to £54 million in 2023/24.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund the national roll-out of mental health support teams across all schools and colleges in England.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Mental health support teams now cover approximately 44% of pupils in England and we are working to increase this coverage to 50% of pupils by March 2025. The further rollout of mental health support teams will be subject to future spending decisions.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on delivering a mental health support lead within primary and secondary schools.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department has offered all state-funded schools and colleges in England a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. The department continues to deliver on the commitments that it made in the government’s 2018 response to the consultation on 'Transforming children and young people's mental health provision: a green paper' and to deliver on next steps. The government’s response to the consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper.

As at 30 November 2023, 15,100 schools and colleges had taken up this offer and claimed a grant, which represents 63% of the total number of settings that are eligible to apply. Breakdowns of the data, including by setting type, can be found in the department’s transparency data release which has been updated annually since the programme started and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.

A list of schools and colleges receiving a senior mental health lead training grant is also published and updated throughout the year, which can be found here: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F65b0cb50160765001118f741%2FSenior_mental_health_lead_training_January_2024_Update.ods&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the Boxall profile measurement tool to help measure the social emotional mental health and wellbeing of school pupils.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is committed to ensuring schools are safe, calm and supportive environments, which promote and support mental health and wellbeing.

Measuring pupil wellbeing can help schools to identify need and monitor the impact of policies and interventions, which is one of the core principles of the whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing recommended by the department. The department is offering every school and college a grant to train a senior mental health lead who can oversee this approach and has recently commissioned a Mental health lead resource hub which has a variety of relevant measurement tools, including the Boxall profile. More information can be found at: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/.

As set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department is also developing practitioner standards for frontline education staff, setting out the best available evidence of what works for identifying and supporting the needs of children and young people with special educational needs, including social, emotional and mental health, across early years, schools and post-16 education.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential (a) merits of implementing a mental health support team plus model in schools and (b) impact of such an approach on the mental wellbeing of children and young people.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

In December 2017, the government published a consultation to gather views on the proposals set out in its publication, ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’. The green paper is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a823518e5274a2e87dc1b56/Transforming_children_and_young_people_s_mental_health_provision.pdf.

The government response to the consultation was published in July 2018: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b583d30ed915d0b6985cc21/government-response-to-consultation-on-transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health.pdf. It outlined a commitment to implement three core proposals that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England, the Department for Education and Health Education England would jointly take forward, one of which was to establish new Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), working in or near schools and colleges. MHSTs add value to support that settings already have in place, and more broadly are part of a wider programme of mental health transformation set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

As of 31 March 2023, MHSTs covered 35% of pupils in schools and learners in further education settings in England. We are extending coverage of MHSTs to an estimated 44% of pupils and learners by the end of this financial year, and at least 50% by the end of March 2025.

The Early Evaluation of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Trailblazer programme, published by the National Institute for Health Research in February 2023, revealed substantial progress in MHST implementation, despite challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although this was a process evaluation, early impacts include improved school and college staff knowledge and confidence in dealing with mental health issues, improved access to support for some groups, and improvements in partnership working. The study also found that the experiences of the majority of children and young people who had contact with an MHST were positive. The early evaluation is available here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/social-policy/BRACE/trailblazer.pdf.

Work is already underway with partners to ensure that learnings are used to inform current and future practice. Since the MHST Trailblazers became operational in 2018/19, the Education Mental Health Practitioner curriculum has been strengthened in response to feedback on needs such as learning disabilities and autism, challenging behaviour and support for parents. In addition, a new Senior Wellbeing Practitioner role was launched in 2023 to support widening the MHST skillset and career progression opportunities.

The department, together with partners, will continue to listen to feedback and a planned phase 2 longer-term outcome evaluation, to inform MHST roll out and drive improvements in evidence-based mental health and emotional wellbeing support for children and young people.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in Eastbourne constituency have applied for a grant for senior mental health lead training.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department began offering schools and colleges a grant to train senior mental health leads in October 2021. A list of schools and colleges receiving a senior mental health lead training grant is published and updated throughout the year. This list can be found at the following link, alongside details of other payments to institutions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-data-on-funding-claims-by-institutions.

​In the 2021/22 financial year, seven schools and colleges within the Eastbourne constituency applied for the senior mental health training grant. In the 2022/23 financial year, a further five schools and colleges applied for the grant, which totals twelve grant applications to date. In the 2023/24 financial year, there were no grant applications in this constituency for Q1 and Q2.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Senior mental health lead training, which schools in North Devon constituency have applied for the senior mental health training grant.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department began offering schools and colleges a grant to train senior mental health leads in October 2021. A list of schools and colleges receiving a senior mental health lead training grant is published and updated throughout the year. This list is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-data-on-funding-claims-by-institutions. In the 2021/22 financial year, 15 schools and colleges within the North Devon constituency applied for the senior mental health training grant. 8 schools and colleges applied for the grant in the 2022/23 financial year, totalling 23 grant applications to date. There were no grant applications in this constituency for Q1 and Q2 of this financial year (2023/24).

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of early intervention mental health support in schools for children and young people.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The mental health of children is a priority for this government, and the department understands that early intervention in schools can play a vital role. The department is committed to ensuring schools and colleges are safe, calm and supportive environments which promote and support mental wellbeing.

The department knows that school-based provision such as counselling works best in schools that take a whole-school approach, with all staff clear about how mental health is supported. That is why the department is offering senior mental health lead training grants to all state schools by 2025, with over 14,400 settings claiming a grant so far.

The department is also extending NHS Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to cover at least 50% of pupils in schools and learners in further education by spring 2025. These teams deliver direct interventions for mild to moderate mental health needs, support education staff with their whole-school approach, and liaise with external specialists to help children and young people get the right support. The MHSTs programme received early independent evaluation, available at: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/brace/projects/children-and-young-people%27s-mental-health-trailblazer-programme.aspx. An independent impact evaluation of both MHSTs and the senior mental health lead training programme is expected in 2026.

Bodies such as the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) have also produced reports reviewing the effectiveness of a variety of mental health interventions. A 2021 report from the EIF is available at: https://www.eif.org.uk/report/adolescent-mental-health-a-systematic-review-on-the-effectiveness-of-school-based-interventions.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) mental health and (b) suicide prevention provision in secondary schools.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

​​Schools are best placed to decide what mental health and wellbeing support to offer to pupils. The department does not collect detailed data on suicide prevention provision in schools, but asks questions about schools’ perceptions of mental health support, as part of its regular omnibus surveys, the results of which are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-and-college-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2022-to-2023.

​The department is supporting effective whole school approaches to mental health through our commitment to offer all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. This includes training on how to make sure they are including processes for identifying individuals or groups who need additional mental health support. There are 14,400 settings that have claimed a grant up to 31 August 2023, including more than 7 in 10 state-funded secondary schools.

​To expand access to early mental health support, the department is continuing to roll out Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to schools and colleges. As of April 2023, MHSTs covered 47% of pupils in secondary schools in England. The department is extending coverage of MHSTs to an estimated 44% of pupils and learners in all schools and colleges by the end of this financial year and at least 50% by the end of March 2025.

​Suicide prevention is part of school and system wide approaches to mental health and wellbeing, where schools should promote good mental health in children, provide a supportive environment for those experiencing problems, and help secure access to more specialist help for those who need it.

​​Schools can teach older pupils about suicide in an age-appropriate and sensitive way. The Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance advises that schools should approach teaching about self-harm and suicide carefully and should be aware of the risks to pupils from exposure to materials that are instructive rather than preventative, including websites or videos that provide instructions or methods of self-harm or suicide.

​​To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the department has produced teacher training modules. The mental wellbeing module contains key knowledge and facts to help teachers understand what they must teach, and is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-mental-wellbeing.

​​The department has started work on the review of the RSHE statutory guidance. Suicide prevention is one of the key subjects that the department will explore as a priority area, and it will work with a range of experts and those with lived experience to do this.

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Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools offer professional mental health support for pupils.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The mental health of children is a priority for this government and schools play a vital role in this, particularly by providing calm, safe and supportive learning environments that promote good mental wellbeing and help pupils who need it to access early targeted support.

Schools are best placed to decide what support to provide to respond to the social, emotional and mental health needs of their pupils. This can include the provision of school-based mental health professionals such as counsellors and working with external providers and, where necessary, NHS specialist services.

The requested information on schools offering professional mental health support is not collected centrally. The department collects information on staff working in state funded schools via the annual School Workforce Census, but does not directly identify mental health professionals. The results are published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

To expand access to early mental health support in schools and colleges, the department is working with NHS England to increase the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working with schools and colleges. These teams include trained mental health professionals who can offer support to children experiencing common mental health problems and liaise with external specialist services to help pupils get the right support. As of April 2023, MHSTs covered 35% of pupils in schools and students in further education in England. We are expanding coverage to an estimated 44% of pupils/students by the end of this financial year and at least 50% by April 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many full-time equivalent mental health professionals were working in schools in the (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23 academic years.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The requested information on mental health professionals working in schools is not collected centrally.

The department collects information on staff working in state funded schools via the annual School Workforce Census but does not directly identify mental health professionals. The results are published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release, accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The mental health of children and young people is a government priority. To expand access to early mental health support, the department is working with NHS England to increase the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working with schools and colleges. These teams include trained professionals who can offer support to children experiencing common mental health problems and liaise with external specialist services to help pupils get the right support. As of April 2023, MHSTs covered 35% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England. A further 100 teams are expected to be operational by April 2024, when MHSTs will cover an estimated 44% of pupils and learners.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, to confirm how many Mental Health Support Teams are in (a) the North West and (b) Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are now in place in around 6,800 schools and colleges across the country, with 398 expert teams offering support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issues. Information on the delivery of MHSTs can found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1156762/Transforming_CYPMH_implementation_programme__data_release_May_2023.pdf. MHSTs have achieved their NHS Long Term Plan coverage ambition a year early, and more teams are coming, with over 500 MHSTs planned to be up and running by April 2024.

Data from NHS England shows that there are currently 58 MHSTs in the North West of England. 50 MHSTs are operational and 8 will be fully operational by April 2024. The data can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/trailblazers/#_Mental_Health_Support. Data on the number of MHSTs specifically in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency is not currently available.

Found: training for teachers will "make a real difference to children's lives", 27 June 2017 27 PQ 4274 [Schools

Found: health of children and young people ’, 10 October 2023. 15 House of Commons, ‘ Written question: Schools

Found: health of children and young people ’, 10 October 2023. 15 House of Commons, ‘ Written question: Schools