Last week, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition was in Liverpool for the Labour Party Conference, where children’s mental health featured prominently in fringe events and speeches.
We hosted a packed Future Minds event, where we launched our new mid-term report card. It was encouraging to hear Social Care and Mental Health Minister, Alison McGovern, accept the challenges put forward in the report card and speak passionately about successful examples of improving support in her constituency. Alastair Campbell then chaired a lively discussion with Alan Milburn, Natasha Irons MP, Haroon Chowdry and Youth Futures Foundation youth ambassador Olivia. The message throughout was clear: the government must turn ambition into concrete investment for the next generation.
The next day during his speech, it was promising to hear the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham say that young people had been “failed” by politicians who had cut support and commit to “no long waits anymore for mental health support growing up”.
Children’s mental health is receiving welcome political attention, particularly alongside the forthcoming Prevalence and Milburn reviews. However, it must not be viewed only through the lens of young people who are not in education, employment or training. Poor mental health affects one in five children, considerably more than the proportion of young people who are NEET, and solutions must reflect this wider picture.
Attention must be given to the wider drivers of poor mental health. We spoke on a panel for an event hosted by the Northern Health Science Alliance, where we discussed how the places in which children grow up shape their mental health, and why it cannot be viewed solely as a health issue.
This broader perspective was reflected across the conference. From discussions on curriculum reform to the upcoming social media ban, it was clear that decisions made across government are impacting children’s mental health. At the final event we attended, a reception hosted by the Head On campaign, ministers from both the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions recognised this wider responsibility. In her speech, Alison McGovern was clear that the upcoming mental health strategy can drive coordinated action across government.
The stronger focus on children’s mental health is welcome, but rhetoric must now be matched by action. The next few months will be crucial, with the publication of the Milburn and Prevalence reviews and the mental health strategy. As a coalition, we will continue to hold the government to account and press it to follow through on its commitments to improve the mental health of children, babies and young people.
