Feb. 06 2024
Source Page: Community Services Statistics, November 2023Found: Community Services Statistics, November 2023
Found: The lack of uplift is breaking families and Early Years Scotland is seeing i ncreased mental health
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Fourth Report of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee of Session 2022-23 on Rural Mental Health, HC248, published on 9 May 2023, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations in the section entitled Rural mental health service provision, policy and strategy development.
Answered by Robbie Moore
We remain committed to supporting thriving rural communities, as set out in our report Unleashing Rural Opportunity, published in June 2023.
Since the launch of the EFRA Committee’s inquiry in 2021, considerable progress has been made to help ensure access to mental health services in rural areas. The Government published its Response to the EFRA Committee Report on Rural Mental Health in October 2023.
The response recognised that people living and working in rural areas may face specific challenges in accessing the mental health services that they need and set out the various actions being taken forward to address mental health needs.
Key actions include:
To help improve the service and support on offer to farmers we will make up to £500,000 available to deliver projects that support mental health in the farming sector. This will build on the support already on offer through the Farming Resilience Fund, which has benefitted over 19,000 farmers to date.
Written Evidence May. 28 2024
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: Improving mental health and wellbeing.Meeting the mental health and wellbeing needs of our staff
Asked by: Whitfield, Martin (Scottish Labour - South Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) universities, what mechanisms are currently in place to (i) monitor and (ii) address the mental health and wellbeing of students with additional support needs.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
The term additional support needs under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 applies where for whatever reason children or young people are unable to benefit from school education without the provision of additional support. Therefore, the information requested in relation to colleges and universities is not applicable.
In 2021, we published a Whole School Approach Framework to assist in supporting children and young people’s mental health in schools. This complements earlier work to provide a professional learning resource to support school staff.
We also continue to support local authorities with £16 million a year to ensure that every secondary school has access to counselling services, which are now in place across Scotland. School counselling is just one of a range of services that schools may have in place to support the health, emotional and social needs of young people.
Asked by: Whitfield, Martin (Scottish Labour - South Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) universities, what specialised support services are currently available to students with additional support needs, including (i) speech therapy, (ii) counselling and (iii) occupational therapy, broken down by geographical location.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
The term additional support needs under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (the 2004 Act) applies where for whatever reason children or young people are unable to benefit from school education without the provision of additional support. Therefore, the information requested in relation to colleges and universities is not applicable.
An additional support need may not be permanent and does not require a diagnosis. There is a wide spectrum of support that may be needed, from support to overcome barriers arising from health or disability to support for social and emotional reasons, therefore, each child or young person’s needs are unique.
Under the 2004 Act appropriate agencies have a duty to help an education authority discharge their duties unless the help asked for:
For the purposes of the Act, an appropriate agency can be any NHS Board. Therefore, education authorities may make a request to an NHS Board, that a child or young person receives speech or language therapy or attends occupational therapy, where appropriate.
On counselling, local authorities provide six-monthly joint reports to the Scottish Government on both access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services.
The most recently published information (3 November 2022) can be found at the following link:
Dec. 14 2009
Source Page: I. The children's plan two years ona progress report. 72p.Found: ˜Many of the schools involved in the Targeted Mental Health in Schools programme report: reduced incidents
May. 01 2024
Source Page: Access to counsellors in secondary schools: summary report - July to December 2022Found: Access to counsellors in secondary schools: summary report - July to December 2022
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides for education settings to help students experiencing (a) depression, (b) bad nerves and (c) anxiety.
Answered by David Johnston
The mental health of children and young people is an absolute priority for this government.
The department supports education settings through a range of guidance on mental health and wellbeing, including to support schools and colleges to establish a whole school/college approach to mental health, promoting positive wellbeing among students: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.
This guidance is supported by the opportunity for all state schools and colleges in England to access a senior mental health lead training grant by 2025, with over 14,400 settings having claimed a grant so far. The department is also continuing to roll-out Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) and extending coverage of MHST 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 department has also commissioned two new resources to help providers that have been published this year, a targeted pastoral support toolkit and a resource hub for mental health leads, which are intended to help colleges to identify the most appropriate and effective support at the early intervention stage.
School-specific resources include guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions, including conditions relating to mental health, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3. Additionally, the department has published guidance on mental health problems manifesting themselves in behaviour, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2.
The department is supporting the mental health of higher education (HE) students through an approach focussed on three pillars: funding and resourcing vital services, spreading and implementing best practice, clear responsibilities for providers and protection for students.
The department has seen impressive progress with the target for all universities to join the University Mental Health Charter Programme by September 2024, with 96 members now signed up. Members follow a process of continuous improvement as they embed the principles which ensure that student wellbeing is supported in all aspects of university life.
The sector is active in developing best practice which supports HE student mental health and wellbeing. I have written to all HE providers to ensure they are implementing guidance produced by the sector and third sector charities, including around suicide prevention and actions to take following a death by suicide, and information sharing with trusted contact of students.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects data on the number of students declaring a disability, including mental health conditions: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-15.
From 2022/2023, students with multiple disabilities will disclose each of their disabilities instead of falling under a catch-all "multiple disabilities" category. Depression, bad nerves, schizophrenia, anxiety, and other mental health conditions will continue to be included under one mental health category.
The department also collects data on various aspects of children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health, presenting key sources from the department and other stakeholders through the annual State of the Nation report on Children and Young People’s Wellbeing: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2022-children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department collects data on students who self report (a) depression, (b) bad nerves and (c) anxiety.
Answered by David Johnston
The mental health of children and young people is an absolute priority for this government.
The department supports education settings through a range of guidance on mental health and wellbeing, including to support schools and colleges to establish a whole school/college approach to mental health, promoting positive wellbeing among students: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.
This guidance is supported by the opportunity for all state schools and colleges in England to access a senior mental health lead training grant by 2025, with over 14,400 settings having claimed a grant so far. The department is also continuing to roll-out Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) and extending coverage of MHST 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 department has also commissioned two new resources to help providers that have been published this year, a targeted pastoral support toolkit and a resource hub for mental health leads, which are intended to help colleges to identify the most appropriate and effective support at the early intervention stage.
School-specific resources include guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions, including conditions relating to mental health, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3. Additionally, the department has published guidance on mental health problems manifesting themselves in behaviour, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2.
The department is supporting the mental health of higher education (HE) students through an approach focussed on three pillars: funding and resourcing vital services, spreading and implementing best practice, clear responsibilities for providers and protection for students.
The department has seen impressive progress with the target for all universities to join the University Mental Health Charter Programme by September 2024, with 96 members now signed up. Members follow a process of continuous improvement as they embed the principles which ensure that student wellbeing is supported in all aspects of university life.
The sector is active in developing best practice which supports HE student mental health and wellbeing. I have written to all HE providers to ensure they are implementing guidance produced by the sector and third sector charities, including around suicide prevention and actions to take following a death by suicide, and information sharing with trusted contact of students.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects data on the number of students declaring a disability, including mental health conditions: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-15.
From 2022/2023, students with multiple disabilities will disclose each of their disabilities instead of falling under a catch-all "multiple disabilities" category. Depression, bad nerves, schizophrenia, anxiety, and other mental health conditions will continue to be included under one mental health category.
The department also collects data on various aspects of children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health, presenting key sources from the department and other stakeholders through the annual State of the Nation report on Children and Young People’s Wellbeing: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2022-children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing.