Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Mental Health Support in Schools

Tuesday 6 October 2020 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government completed a wellbeing for education return "train the trainer" scheme with 8 million investment over the summer.
  • Government invested 2.3 billion in mental health support for children and young people, enabling 345,000 to access services.
  • Spending on mental health services for children and young people is growing faster than the overall mental health budget.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Abena Oppong-Asare Lab Erith and Thamesmead
Education Mental Health
Context

The MP noted that schoolchildren have been interrupted from their education due to ongoing disruptions, including separation from friends and threats to daily lives. The Government knew schools were set to reopen but did not provide adequate measures for mental health provision.

Question

Schoolchildren have had their education interrupted. They have been separated from their friends and face continual threats to their daily lives. Given that the Government knew schools would return, why did they not put in place adequate measures to provide mental health support for students and teachers?

Answer from Nadine Dorries

The Government has completed the wellbeing for education return “train the trainer” scheme, with trainers trained by the Anna Freud Centre ready to go into schools. £8 million was invested in this training programme over the summer, preparing mental health and wellbeing support for children returning to school.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The questioner asked why adequate measures were not put in place before reopening, but the answer focused on recent actions rather than addressing past failures to implement such measures beforehand.

How: Changing Subject

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Q2 Abena Oppong-Asare Lab Erith and Thamesmead
Education Mental Health
Context

The MP highlighted six months of uncertainty for children and their parents, including cancelled schooling, exam results issues, and students being trapped in university accommodation. Despite the Education Secretary acknowledging the impact on young people's mental health, the questioner argues that there is no plan to address this.

Question

It has been six months of uncertainty for our country's children and their parents, with schooling cancelled, exam results issues, and now students trapped in university accommodation. Despite recognition of the serious impact on young people's mental health, why does it seem like there is no Government plan to address this? Children are being failed.

Answer from Nadine Dorries

We have invested £2.3 billion in mental health support for children and young people, enabling 345,000 to access mental health services via NHS-funded health services and school-based teams. Spending on mental health services for this age group is growing faster than the overall mental health budget.

Answered
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Q3 Rosena Allin-Khan Lab Tooting
Education Mental Health
Context

The MP noted six months of uncertainty for children and parents due to cancelled schooling, exam result issues, and students being trapped in university accommodation. The Education Secretary acknowledged the serious impact on young people's mental health but there seems to be no plan from the Government.

Question

It has been six months of uncertainty for our country's children and their parents, with schooling cancelled, exam results fiasco, and now students trapped in university accommodation. Despite the Education Secretary recognising that there was a serious impact on young people's mental health, why does it seem like the Government have no plan? Children and young people are being failed.

Answer from Nadine Dorries

The Government has invested at least £2.3 billion in mental health support for children and young people, enabling 345,000 to access NHS-funded mental health services and school-based teams. Spending on these services is growing faster than the overall mental health budget.

Answered
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