Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that Young Futures Hubs deliver on their core purpose of early mental health support.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services in helping young people live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives, and is committed to building on great youth services by developing the National Youth Strategy, strengthening services and expanding opportunities for all young people.
As part of this Strategy, Young Futures Hubs will leverage local understanding of services in each area to improve support for young people at community level, increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. 50 Young Futures Hubs across the country will be supported by the end of this Parliament.
We are working closely with DHSC, NHS England and a number of health stakeholders, to ensure that Young Futures Hubs offer services together to support young people with emerging needs, including early mental health advice and wellbeing interventions. This includes using learnings from programmes such as Early Support Hubs.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is planning to take to ensure that lessons from the 24 early support hubs will feed into the Young Futures Hubs programme; and what plans she has to build the Young Futures Hubs programme on these existing hubs.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Health and Social Care is responsible for Early Support Hubs, and interventions into young people’s mental health.
Young Futures Hubs, developed by DCMS, will leverage local understanding of services in each area to improve support for young people at community level, increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. 50 Young Futures Hubs across the country will be supported by the end of this Parliament.
We are working closely with DHSC, NHS England, and health partners to ensure Young Futures Hubs builds on existing evidence to meet young people's emerging needs, including early mental health and wellbeing support.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what cross party work is taking place on the development of Young Futures Hubs.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I regularly engage with Parliamentary colleagues to drive the youth agenda, including Young Futures Hubs.
Young Futures Hubs will leverage local understanding of services in each area to improve support for young people at community level, increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. 50 Young Futures Hub across the country will be supported by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that children are using artificial intelligence chatbots for mental health advice, in particular with regard to online safety and child protection.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government is committed to improving NHS mental health services to ensure that children and young people receive the right support at the right time for their mental health.
The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope services, including AI chatbots, to proactively remove illegal suicide and self-harm content. Services likely to be accessed by children must take steps to prevent children from accessing suicide, self-harm, or eating disorder content.
DHSC’s 10 Year Plan has set out an ambitious reform agenda to transform mental health services to improve access and treatment and promote good mental health and wellbeing for the nation.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of repeated external investigations on staff (a) wellbeing and (b) retention in small special educational needs schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Across mainstream and special schools, the department is committed to improving the wellbeing and mental health of school staff and creating a supportive culture in schools and colleges. That is why we encourage all schools and colleges to sign the education staff wellbeing charter which sets out shared commitments to protect and promote the wellbeing of staff in schools and colleges. The charter can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter.
Recruiting and retaining excellent teachers and leaders will support the government to transform the education system so that all young people get the skills, care and opportunities they deserve. Full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in special schools and pupil referral units in Surrey increased by 21 (3.6%) in 2024.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to support young people in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire into employment, education or training.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances.
That is why at Budget the Government announced that £820 million has been committed to the Youth Guarantee over the next three years to support all young people aged 16 to 24 to earn or learn. This includes the previously announced Jobs Guarantee, which will guaranteeing six-months of paid work for every eligible 18-21 year old who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months. Under the Jobs Guarantee we will fund 100% of the wages for the six months (up to 25hrs/week at the relevant minimum wage), as well as the additional employment costs and a budget for wrap around support. Further details on the Youth Guarantee will be announced shortly.
In Newcastle-under-Lyme the DWP Employer and Partnership team is actively involved with the Newcastle Employment and Skills Group (NSEG). They work closely with stakeholders such as Aspire Housing, Keele University, and prominent employers at Lymedale Business Park, including TK Maxx, ASDA, and Radwell International. Youth Employment Programmes, such as Positive Directions and We Mean Business, offer fully funded 5-week courses for 16–24-year-olds who are not engaged in employment, education, or training. Additionally, our outreach efforts through probation services and police provide tailored employment pathways, mentoring, and reintegration support for young people at risk of offending.
In Staffordshire, our DWP Schools Advisers have supported over 3,600 young people across in the 2024/25 academic year. This includes 220 students in Newcastle-under-Lyme at Orme Academy, St Peter's Academy, and Abbey Hill Special School. Young people have access to training in Digital Marketing, Cyber Security, Web Design, and Emergency First Aid for Mental Health through The Training Initiative.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Careers Advisors working in schools receive training in mental health support, to help identify and assist students experiencing mental health challenges.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the vital role that careers advisors play in supporting young people to thrive in their future career. We do not expect careers advisors to provide clinical mental health care, but we are committed to ensuring they are better equipped to support, identify concerns and signpost students with mental health challenges towards appropriate support.
The department has been working closely with the sector to explore the development of a continuous professional development package to upskill careers advisers working with young people, including support for young people with mental health challenges. We expect the offer to be available from the 2026/27 academic year
Alongside this, the government is committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams (MHSTs), so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. By April 2026, we estimate that 60% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by an MHST, up from 52% in April 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that puberty blockers are not administered to under 16 year old children with a mental illness or learning disabilities.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has introduced an indefinite ban on the sale or supply of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues, also known as puberty blockers, for gender dysphoria and/or incongruence, to under 18 year olds.
Children’s healthcare must always be evidence-led. That’s why we are following expert, independent advice from the Cass Review to implement a package of research to find out how the National Health Service can best support children and young people with gender incongruence.
This includes the PATHWAYS trial which has received independent scientific, ethical, and regulatory approvals as well as comprehensive review. The study design, including inclusion criteria and safety protocols, has been thoroughly scrutinised to protect young people's wellbeing. This includes demonstrating a good understanding of the intervention and the possible benefits and risks.
When making prescribing decisions, clinicians have a duty to work with their patient to decide on the best course of treatment, and must always satisfy themselves that the medicines they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed, taking into account any existing medical conditions or other factors including any disabilities.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Department has to ensure continuity of funding for Early Support Hubs beyond March 2026; and how will they be integrated into the introduction of Young Futures Hubs from next year.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The early support hubs were originally funded by the Shared Outcomes Fund, which provided £8 million of top-up funding to expand open-access, community services and to build the evidence base for early intervention services for children and young people's mental health. The project was initially funded in 2024/25 for one year and we were able to extend the programme for an additional year to 2025/26.
In addition to expanding access to support, early support hubs have played a key role building an evidence base to support the introduction of young futures hubs next year. The evaluation findings are directly informing our young futures hubs programme. Young futures hubs will bring services together to support young people with emerging needs, including early mental health advice and wellbeing interventions. As we launch the first 50 young futures hubs, we will work with local areas and partners to build on learning from the early support hubs pilot.
Our aim is to set up 50 hubs where they will have the most impact over the next four years. The design and implementation of the programme in future years will be informed by our work with early adopters. We will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department has had with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education on reforming Child Benefit rules to better support children experiencing mental-health crises who cannot attend school.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Child Benefit remains in payment until 31 August following a child’s 16th birthday. This applies without any conditions on education, so there is no impact on children of this age if they are unable to attend school for any reason.
For young people who are over 16 and under 20, Child Benefit remains payable if they continue in full-time non-advanced education or training. Legislation allows for Child Benefit to continue being paid when this education is interrupted. This can be for a period of up to six months, or for as long as is reasonable if it is attributable to the illness or disability of mind or body. Child Benefit can also still be paid in respect of young people who cannot attend education for an average of more than 12 hours per week due to an illness or disability.
The Government does not hold data on the number of families where Child Benefit has stopped because a young person over 16 has not been able to attend education due to mental ill health.
Where a young person is unable to return to education because of mental ill-health or trauma, disability benefits may provide a more suitable form of long-term support.