Today, the Government published two announcements that will have major implications on babies, children and young people’s mental health. We explore these announcements and what they mean.
Mental health funding is being cut
In a ministerial statement, Wes Streeting is set to confirm that funding for mental health services will be cut, meaning mental health spending will be at its lowest level since 2022. Mental health services already receive a small slice of overall NHS funding, and we know the situation is even worse for children and young people’s mental health services. It is no coincidence that children’s services have been described as the ‘Cinderella services’ of the NHS.
To address the historic underfunding of children’s mental health services, the Government previously promised that funding for these services would grow at a faster rate than the NHS budget. It is clear that this promise has been abandoned.
This announcement comes at a time when demand for children and young people’s mental support is rapidly increasing amidst rising levels of need. Data from the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) shows that in 2023/24, on average each month nearly 560,000 children and young people under 18 were in contact with mental health services.
And child poverty is rising
The publication of the annual poverty and income statistics shockingly shows that 4.5 million children now live in poverty. This is the highest level that there has ever been. Money and mental health are inextricably linked. Children living in poverty are four times more likely to experience serious mental health difficulties by age 11 compared to their peers. Our research with Centre for Mental Health and Save the Children UK also highlighted the devastating impact of poverty on the mental health of families.
What does this mean?
This means we are now in a situation where need amongst children and young people is rising, and funding for support is being cut. This significantly risks more children and young people falling through the gaps and being left without the support they need.
The Government have committed to ‘raising the healthiest generation of children ever’ but todays announcements show that we are only getting further away from this mission. If the Government is serious about improving outcomes for children and young people, then they must take urgent action to reverse these damaging trends. With both the Ten Year Health Plan and the Spending Review on the horizon, the Government has a crucial opportunity to re-affirm their commitment
We can no longer afford to keep breaking promises to children, young people and families.
