Every secondary school in the country should be given the funding
to offer independent mental health counselling to all pupils amid
growing concerns that children and young people are being forced
to wait up to 18 months for vital support.
The Government has pledged a total of £1.7 billion to promoting,
protecting and improving children and young people’s mental
health and wellbeing.
The Local Government Association, which represents 370 councils
in England and Wales, is calling for 5 per cent of this
funding - £90 million – to be used to make it mandatory for every
pupil in secondary and alternative education provision, to have
access to on-site school counselling services.
The call is part of the LGA’s Bright Futures campaign for
children and young people’s mental health. Launched today, it is
calling for services that change children’s lives to be properly
funded, so that all children and young people can have the bright
future they deserve.
It comes as local government leaders warn that:
- At least one in 10 children have a diagnosed mental health
condition and almost 19,000 children were admitted to hospital
after harming themselves in 2015 – a 14 per cent increase over
three years. Over half of all mental ill health starts before the
age of 14.
- The average waiting time for children and young people to
access mental health services range from 14 to 200 days.
- Between 70- 75 per cent of young people experiencing a mental
health problem not able to access any treatment, due to reasons
such as lack of early intervention services and stigmas around
asking for help.
Evidence shows that on-site independent counselling services have
seen a reduction in psychological stress in the pupils that have
access to it, as well as improvement in behaviour and educational
achievements.
The LGA says that government funding of on-site school
counselling services in every school would help ensure children
can access the support as early as they need without having to go
on a waiting list.
Cllr , Chair of the LGA’s
Children and Young People Board, said:
“No child or young adult should have to wait 18 months for vital
support and guidance. Many young people might not have needed
formal social care support if they had received the early help
they needed.
“Providing just a small proportion of the funding it is spending
on mental health support nationally to ensure every school
provides on-site counselling, is one way the Government can
ensure every child and young person enjoys the bright future they
deserve.
“Mental health problems are very common and not something
children should feel ashamed about. Good emotional health and
wellbeing is also about learning to be resilient to life’s
setbacks and negative emotions.
“They may be facing personal problems outside of school that they
feel that they are unable to talk to somebody about or in the
current climate, it could be that they are seeking reassurance to
cope with modern stresses such as social media pressures, sexual
exploitation and negative body image.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Further information on the new LGA campaign Bright Futures
can be found here – www.local.gov.uk/bright-futures-camhs
- In 2015 the Government committed £1.4 billion in additional
investment for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
(CAMHS) over a five year period. In January 2017 the Prime
Minister announced a comprehensive
package of measures to transform mental health support in
schools, workplaces and communities. The current Green Paper
promises an additional £300 million and focuses on the
relationship between schools and NHS.
- Assuming that over a school year 10 per cent of the school
population are seen by a counselling service and 50 counselling
sessions should be available per 100 pupils, this equates to a
total of around 2.25 million counselling sessions in England per
school year. The cost to deliver a single session of school
counselling is estimated to be between £34 (minimum) and £47
(maximum). Upscaling it to all state funded secondary schools and
academies in England would cost between £76.5 and £105.75 million
per year.
