Select Committee report deals a hammer blow to the Government's credibility on dealing with mental health issues - Keeley

Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Mental Health, commenting on the joint Select Committee report on the Government’s Green Paper on Mental Health, said:

“This report deals a hammer blow to the credibility of the Tory Government in ensuring children and young people with mental ill health get the help and support they need and deserve.   

“Mental Health treatment for children continues to fall short on key standards, such as access and waiting times; the Tories’ proposals do nothing to address these problems and will instead heap pressure on hard-pressed teachers and overstretched services.    

“The Tories should follow Labour’s lead and commit to increase the proportion of the mental health budget spent on children and young people and ensure that access to a counselling service is available for all children in secondary schools.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• ·         The Prime Minister said in a speech on 7 January 2017 that the Government’s plan to transform the way we deal with mental health problems at every stage of a person’s life would start with “ensuring that children and teenagers get the help and support they need and deserve – because we know that mental illness too often starts in childhood and that when left untreated, it can blight lives, and become entrenched.

Source:  https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-shared-society-prime-ministers-speech-at-the-charity-commission-annual-meeting