As we enter the second quarter of the 21st century, it’s worth reflecting on what a challenging period this has been for mental health and local government.
The banking crash was followed by austerity, Brexit, Covid and the cost-of-living-crisis, all worsening circumstances for people’s mental health and the local services which support them.
Despite these challenges – and having more demand but fewer resources to deliver on greater responsibilities (including for public health) – councils have often done fantastic work to improve mental health. Many have gone beyond direct social care and clinical support for people with mental health difficulties and made important steps to improve the social, economic and environmental conditions that shape mental health so strongly.
Centre for Mental Health has been supporting local government in its role championing mental health for over a decade, and our Mentally Healthier Councils Network now has more than 300 members covering most of England’s councils. We provide Network members with free resources (like our guide to conducting an effective mental health needs assessment) and other training and networking opportunities. If you’re a councillor or you work in local government, you can join the Network for free here.
Supporting local councils to build mentally healthier communities
We have also been doing lots of work to support individual councils and regions in reducing mental health inequalities including in Greater Manchester, commissioned by their Health and Social Care Partnership. On 13 February we will be getting together for a free, one-hour webinar to hear from Greater Manchester colleagues on the work we have done there including complex system mapping workshops, action planning and community engagement. Sign up to join us here.
We will also be hearing from the National Institute for Health Research who have evaluated Better Mental Health Training for Councillors, designed and delivered by Centre for Mental Health’s Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Ed Davie.
Tell us how your initiatives are boosting mental health locally
This year we will be supporting better mental health with councils in two main ways: establishing a Mentally Healthier Councils accreditation scheme and producing a report with the top council policies and interventions to support better mental health.
We are asking for your help to co-produce these efforts by filling in this brief survey. It gives you the chance to tell the world about your council’s policies that you are most proud of – these don’t have to be confined to direct mental health support but could be about wider factors such as reducing child poverty or air pollution, or improving access to exercise, parks or social connection. The survey also invites you to share your views on the fairest, simplest ways to accredit councils as ‘mentally healthier’ by rating various proposed metrics, such as being Living Wage accredited.
