MPs launch inquiry as 1 in 5 young people face ‘probable mental disorder’

Today the Education and Health and Social Care committees have launched a new inquiry into children and young people’s mental health. 

MPs on the cross-party committees will consider what mental health support is available to children and young people up to the age of 25 in community, health and education settings.

Through the inquiry, MPs will consider how this support is integrated with NHS services, such as specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) services, and what support is available throughout the education system, including for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

They will explore how potential reforms to CAMHS could improve children and young people’s access to mental health care and whether support could be provided in the community, such as through the Government’s new Young Futures Hubs.

Around one in five children and young people aged 8 to 25 in the UK has a “probable mental disorder”, according to NHS statistics published in 2023, while the consultancy PwC says that mental health challenges are having a significant impact on young people’s career choices and wellbeing at work. The committees will investigate what factors are driving these changes to children and young people’s mental health.

The committees will also scrutinise the implementation and rollout of relevant government policies such as the commitment to expand Mental Health Support Teams to all schools in England by 2029/30. MPs will also consider plans to establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and alignment between various government strategies such as the 10 Year Health Plan, the Independent Review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism, and the National Youth Strategy.

MPs will also investigate how education staff can support children and young people’s mental health, and whether current Ofsted frameworks or DfE guidance help or hinder mental health provision.

Chair of the Education Committee, Helen Hayes MP, said:

“Struggling with mental health should never obstruct a young person’s chance to learn and thrive. Yet for too many, especially those with SEND or experience of the care system, that’s still the reality.

From the early years through to university, education staff are often being asked to step in where existing support has failed. Our inquiry will take a forensic look at the mental health services available to children and young people at every stage of their education, from ages zero to 25. We will consider the role teachers can play in supporting children and young people’s mental health and whether they are getting the training they need to do that properly.

We’ll also look at the full range of government policies and plans affecting young people, from SEND reform to the National Youth Strategy, and ask: are ministers doing enough to protect young people’s mental health?”

Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Layla Moran MP, said:

“For parents and school leaders alike, trying to get mental health support for children can feel like navigating a spaghetti junction.

“Services are frequently overwhelmed and not joined up. Too often the help doesn’t come until a child’s needs are at crisis point. These fundamental problems sit alongside issues that the Health and Social Care Committee documented in 2021 — the need to increase emphasis on prevention and early intervention. We return to these themes now amid deepening concern about the scale of need and questions of how the system can be remade fit for purpose.

“We will try and show Government how it can untangle the knotty problems that stop children getting the help they need and point to where investment should be directed. We’ll see how silos can be broken down between two sectors that should be working hand in glove, because we know that childr