A major new report from the Future Minds campaign has warned that, without urgent action, up to almost four million more children and young people in England could be referred for mental health support before the end of this Parliament, and more than 1.1 million of them – close to the population of Birmingham – could miss out on help entirely.
Collectively, the total amount of time that children in England will spend waiting for support across the rest of this parliament will add up to 1.3 million years, according to the report.
Future Minds brings together leading young people’s charities and mental health organisations – Centre for Mental Health Centre for Young Lives, YoungMinds, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, Anna Freud, Mental Health UK, and Mind, supported by the Prudence Trust – to work together to make children and young people’s mental health a national priority.
Its new report, A Mid-Term Report Card on Children and Young People’s Mental Health, gives the Government’s overall performance halfway through this Parliament a verdict of “Requires Urgent Improvement”, warning that progress is failing to keep pace with rising need and that ministers are running out of time to deliver on their promises to children and young people.
The report launches at a Future Minds panel event at Labour Party Conference chaired by leading mental health advocate Alastair Campbell and featuring contributions from Alan Milburn, as well as young people with lived experience, senior mental health leaders and Parliamentarians.
While the report welcomes the progress that the Government has made, including the expansion of Mental Health Support Teams in schools, reforms to the Mental Health Act, investment in Young Futures Hubs and action to address child poverty, it concludes that these measures are being undermined by insufficient investment and a lack of system-wide reform.
Today’s report highlights that, since the last General Election, there have been more than 2.7 million referrals to children and young people’s mental health services in England. Waiting times are continuing to rise, with more than a third of children referred still waiting for support at the end of the reporting year. Almost 61,000 young people each year are reaching services in crisis. Yet less than 1% of total NHS spending in England currently goes towards mental health services for children and young people.
The report estimates that more than 1.1 million children and young people could be referred for mental health support but not have received treatment between now and the next General Election if current trends continue.
The report paints a stark picture of a system still struggling to cope with soaring demand. More than one in five children and young people now experience a probable mental health condition, double the rate seen two decades ago, while referrals to children’s mental health services have nearly doubled since 2018/19.
The findings come at a pivotal moment, with the imminent publication of the independent Fonagy and Milburn reviews. Both are expected to reinforce growing evidence that rising mental health need is real, significant, and having profound consequences for young people’s education, employment, and future opportunities.
The Future Minds campaign is calling for the Government to use its forthcoming Mental Health Strategy for England to deliver four urgent commitments:
- Triple-lock spending on children and young people’s mental health, ensuring funding rises by inflation, earnings growth or 2.5%, whichever is highest.
- Make children and young people’s mental health a national priority across government.
- Introduce and enforce access and waiting-time standards for children’s mental health services.
- Deliver the manifesto commitment to provide open-access mental health support through Early Support Hubs in every community up to the age of 25.
Sam Dick, Associate Director of Policy at Centre for Mental Health, said:
“There is no avoiding the fact that, if current trends continue, millions of children and young people will require support for their mental health and far too many will wait far too long to get the support they need.
“What this report demonstrates is that addressing the children and young people’s mental health crisis requires genuine cross-Government action – it cannot simply be seen as a health issue. The forthcoming mental health strategy is an opportunity that must not be missed.
“The first two years of this Government show that with concerted effort and political will, meaningful action has been taken to address both the drivers of poor mental health and the support offered to children and young people. But significant further action is still required over the remainder of this Parliament if the Government is to adequately address the children and young people’s mental health crisis.”
