Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Mental Health Support: Secondary Schools

Monday 29 January 2024 · 2 questions

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • We are rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges to provide early intervention for mental health.
  • As of March 2023, there were 398 mental health support teams covering 47% of secondary school pupils.
  • By spring 2025, the number of mental health support teams is expected to increase to around 600.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Lloyd Russell-Moyle Lab
Education Mental Health
Context

The availability of mental health support in secondary schools is being questioned.

Question

What steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of mental health support in secondary schools?

Answer from David Johnston

We are rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges, supporting young people to access early intervention for mental health. As of March 2023 there were 398 teams covering 47% of secondary school pupils. That will increase to around 600 teams by spring 2025.

Answered
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Q2 Lloyd Russell-Moyle Lab
Education Mental Health
Context

The questioner notes the removal of school counsellors and requests a commitment to reintroduce them.

Question

When I was a young person, we had a counsellor in our school. It helped many people, not for the long term but through short-term interventions that put people on the right track and meant that they did not need more expensive interventions down the line. Unfortunately, those counsellors have gone in many schools. Labour will reintroduce them. Will the Minister commit to reintroducing a counsellor in every school to ensure that we spend now to save later?

Answer from David Johnston

Counsellors have a role, but we believe that a combination of rolling out mental health support teams and giving every state school and college in the country a grant to train a senior mental health lead is a better approach to take.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Commitment to reintroduce counsellors in schools

How: We Believe That A Combination Of Rolling Out Mental Health Support Teams And Giving Every State School And College In The Country A Grant To Train A Senior Mental Health Lead Is A Better Approach To Take

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