Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 13 January (HL13304), what plans there are for co-operation between the Independent Review for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism and the Young People and Work Report led by Alan Milburn.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Independent Review for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD, and Autism, and the Young People and Work Report led by Alan Milburn are complementary. The chairs and the secretariats are in regular discussion to ensure cooperation.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for each wave of Mental Health Support Teams up to Wave 12, what the anticipated ratio of FTE clinical staff (a) was and (b) is in the Mental Health Support Team to pupil numbers in the schools covered.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) typically comprise of approximately eight full-time equivalent (FTE) clinical staff. Each team was anticipated to cover a population of between 8,000 and 8,500 children and young people. This figure refers to the total population covered by an MHST, not the number of children and young people receiving direct care.
The most recent coverage analysis indicates that MHSTs support an average population of approximately 8,300 children and young people. This equates to a current estimated ratio of FTE clinical staff to children and young people of approximately 1:1,037.
In July 2025, the National Children’s Bureau published an independent MHST evaluation report, Evaluating the implementation of the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision Green Paper programme. According to survey data published as part of this report, 86% of respondents in schools and colleges were satisfied or very satisfied with the direct interventions that the MHST provided for pupils/students or families. The evaluation report is available at the following link:
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will establish an inquiry into delays in the NHS providing (a) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and (b) any other services related to children's mental health.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that many children and young people are currently experiencing significant delays in accessing mental health support and we are taking action to address this, as committed to in the 10-Year Health Plan. This includes providing mental health support for almost one million more young people in school this year and an extra £688 million in Government funding this year to transform mental health services, to hire more staff, deliver more early interventions, and get waiting lists down.
As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government is recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament. Almost 8,000 of these workers have been recruited since July 2024, which will help to ease pressure on busy mental health services. We will publish a refreshed workforce plan later this year to ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places to care for patients when they need it.
Additionally, we are also accelerating the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools to achieve full national coverage by 2029. This includes investing £13 million to pilot enhanced training for staff, so that they can offer more support to young people with complex needs, such as trauma, neurodivergence, and disordered eating.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they hold that shows that increased investment in mental health services in schools reduces the level of mental health conditions in children and young people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Mental health support teams (MHSTs) work with young people and parents to support the mental health needs of children and young people in primary, secondary, and further education to provide early, evidence-based interventions that follow recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Research conducted by NHS South Central and West, commissioned by NHS England, found qualitative evidence from seven MHST sites that MHSTs are successful in reaching children and young people who would not have otherwise accessed mental health services and that they complement wider mental health services by delivering low-level interventions for those waiting to be seen by specialist services. MHSTs were also reported to allow earlier identification and management of mental health issues, to normalise and destigmatise mental health in schools, and the improve knowledge and quality of referrals to other local services.
Research from 2025 by Bebbington et al. into 459 children and young people found that low-intensity cognitive behavioural interventions delivered in one MHST service were effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and emotional and behavioural difficulties in children and young people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties. In an evaluation of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Trailblazer programme, education settings reported positive early outcomes, including increased staff confidence and access to advice about mental health issues for children with mild-to moderate mental health problems.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proposals they intend to take forward in the 10 Year Health Plan for England in relation to services for autistic people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out to make the National Health Service fit for the future, by delivering three big shifts, from hospital to care in community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. The plan will help to address health inequalities for disabled and autistic people by improving access to care, delivering care closer to home, and supporting the development of holistic care plans for those whose needs may require support from multiple health and care providers. We want autistic people’s access to, and experience of, healthcare services to be equitable, effective, and responsive to their needs.
The plan sets out the core principle of early intervention and support, including without the need for diagnosis, including specifically for children and young people, such as those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It is clear about the importance of health services working in partnership with education settings and providing children and young people with early intervention and support to avoid needs escalating, where possible, building on learning from programmes such as Early Language Support for Every Child. We will set out our proposals for SEND reform in the upcoming Schools White Paper.
NHS England continues to support local systems to use a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. It has published national guidance on meeting the needs of autistic adults in mental health services and, to address physical health inequalities, is currently testing a combined health check in primary care for autistic people, those with a severe mental health condition and/or those people with a learning disability.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to help ensure that all strip searches of children have an appropriate adult present.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 requires that when a child is strip searched an appropriate adult must be present except in cases where delay would pose a risk of serious harm, or where the child specifically requests otherwise and the appropriate adult agrees. This safeguard is necessary to protect the welfare and dignity of children, whilst also providing the police necessary powers to keep the public safe.
For the year ending March 2025, the Home Office published data for the first time, on whether an appropriate adult was present for the full strip search of a child under stop and search powers (Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UK). Analysis of this type of data helps to increase transparency and enable effective oversight of the use of these powers.
The government remains committed to its manifesto commitment to introduce new legal safeguards around strip-searching children and young people.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of integrated strategies which connect mental health services and skills training to employment support for young people.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The integration of services for young people is a key Government priority. We continue to assess how best to strengthen links between employment support, skills provision and mental health services. That is why we have announced the expansion of Youth Hubs to every area of Great Britian.
Youth Hubs are community‑based spaces where DWP Work Coaches work alongside local partners, such as colleges, local authorities, employers, youth organisations, and mental health providers, to deliver joined‑up support for 16–24-year-olds in one location outside of the job centre. We have also announced that all Youth Hubs will operate to a national minimum service blueprint, which sets out the core offer every young person should be able to access. This includes employment and skills support, links to wider training, mental health and wellbeing provision, housing and homelessness support, and strong employer engagement. The blueprint ensures consistency while allowing flexibility to tailor services to local needs
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is Taking with the Secretary of State for Education, to provide mental health and wellbeing support to young carers in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including children and young people’s mental health services.
As prioritised in our Medium-Term Planning Framework, we are taking action to reduce the longest waits for specialist mental health support, tackling regional disparities, and expanding access, thereby making services more productive so children and young people spend less time waiting for the treatment they need.
We are also accelerating the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029. As part of this, we are investing an additional £13 million to pilot enhanced training for staff so that they can offer more effective support to young people with complex needs, such as trauma, neurodivergence, and disordered eating. An additional 900,000 children and young people will have access by this spring, and this means that 60% of all pupils will have access to this early support at school, up from 44% in Spring 2024.
More widely, we are, rolling out Young Futures Hubs. The Government’s first 50 Young Futures Hubs will bring together services at a local level to support children and young people, helping to ensure that young people can access early advice and wellbeing intervention. We will work to ensure there is no wrong door for young people who need support with their mental health.
Through measures in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are equipping and supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining their caring tasks by introducing a new ‘MyCarer’ section to the NHS App.
NHS England is supporting the identification of young carers and has recently published guidance for general practitioners. NHS England is also utilising data to help support greater join-up between health, education, and social care.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to understand the factors contributing to the doubling in the number of children with education, health and care plans for social, emotional and mental health needs since 2016.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Every child deserves an education that meets their needs, is academically stretching, where they feel like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work
As part of the government’s Plan for Change, we are determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and restore the trust of parents. We will do this by ensuring schools have the tools to better identify and support children before issues escalate.
The department has improved data by disaggregating the SEN2 data collection from 2023. This change enabled more detailed, pupil level analysis of education health and care (EHC) plans and the processes associated with it, providing deeper insights into specific patterns and trends to support decision-making. The annual EHC plan statistics report provides information on the numbers of children and young people with an EHC plan
International evidence indicates that the number of children and young people with SEN is also increasing in comparable countries. Although definitions and systems vary considerably between countries, the key drivers include improved understanding and diagnosis of need, as well as social and medical factors.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what safeguards are in place to prevent the risk of overdiagnosing mental health conditions in children and young people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises rising demand for children and young people’s mental health services.
Through the Plan for Change and our 10-Year Health Plan, we are transforming the mental health system to strengthen clinical pathways and improve access to early support, while reducing the longest waits for specialist care and tackling regional disparities.
The independent review into mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism is examining the drivers of rising prevalence and demand, to ensure people receive the right support, at the right time, and in the right place.
More widely, we are accelerating the rollout of mental health support teams in schools and colleges, with national coverage expected by 2029. By this spring, approximately 60% of pupils will have access to early mental health support, up from 44% in spring 2024.