Dear Secretary of State,
One in ten children and young people in England have a diagnosable mental health condition, and yet less
than a third of them receive NHS treatment or support. Additionally, recent estimates suggest that as many
as one in four school-aged children experience some form of mental health issue. Without early help, some
of these initially manageable problems are likely to escalate to something much more serious.
The Government’s recent Green Paper Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision
provides a crucial opportunity to reform our mental health system to make sure that all young people
receive the help they need, when they need it. It includes welcome measures to improve school-based
services but we believe the Government can go further still. Government must think more widely about
where and when children need support in order to address the real mental health crisis our young people
face.
Services like the NSPCC’s Childline are now on the front line of mental health support for young people.
Last year one in three Childline counselling sessions were about mental health and emotional wellbeing.
The majority of these took place outside school hours – many in the middle of the night. The service has
also seen a 150 per cent increase in counselling sessions with children who are suicidal since 2010/11.
But currently the service is only able to support three in every four children who contacts it.
The NSPCC urgently needs to increase both the number of available volunteers and to improve and expand
the training that they receive. This will ensure that Childline is equipped to support the more complex
mental health needs children are coming to the service with. It surely deserves Government support and
investment.
We urge the Government to allocate an appropriate proportion of the £300 million pledged in the Green
Paper reforms to ensure that Childline is equipped to meet the rising demand. When a child is brave
enough to reach out it is absolutely vital that the immediate response and support is there for them.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Wanless - NSPCC Chief Executive
Dame Esther Rantzen - Founder and President of Childline
Rt Hon Luciana Berger MP - President, Labour Mental Health
Gillian Keegan MP