Richmond Council must increase children’s access to mental health services by 10 per cent in two years- with no additional Government funding

Only 25 per cent of those aged five to 17 suffering mental health issues have access to the vital services.

To meet the national priority this needs to increase to 35 per cent in fewer than two years.

A council report last week stated that the last major study into the prevalence of mental illness in young people was carried out in 2004 and despite the fact that the date is 14 years old, “commissioners are still using it to model need”.

The study found the average mental wellbeing score for 15-year-olds in Richmond was the fourth worst in London.

More recent studies found that levels of anxiety and depression are increasing in young people, particularly in girls.

According to the Millennium Cohort Study in 2014, 25 per cent of 14-year-old girls reach the clinical threshold for depression (nine per cent for boys).

To address the rising mental health problem, Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing (CAHMS) were introduced by the Government in 2015.

They give guidance to councils on how to prioritise preventing mental health conditions or treating them before they become more complex.

Currently 70 per cent of children have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age.

£1.5 billion was allocated to CAHMS in the 2014 Autumn Statement, to be spread over five years. This amounts to £350,000 per year for local authorities.

However, the overwhelming majority of spending goes on those with the most severe needs.

Fact box:

A 2016 report by Public Health England found that nowhere near enough funds were going into early treatment, the most effective and cheapest way to treat mental illness- 50 per cent of sufferers show symptoms before the age of 14.

Lynn Gradwell, director of Barnardo’s in London, said a recent survey by the charity found “three quarters of all London pupils say school is one of their biggest causes of stress, and it’s clear there’s a need for more mental health support for young people across the capital, including in Richmond”.

The Department of Health estimates that a targeted therapeutic intervention delivered in a school costs about £229 but derives an average lifetime benefit of £7,252- a cost benefit ratio of 32 to one.

Fact Box:

The Government recently closed a consultation on their plans for CAHMS, which included a new workforce of community-based mental health support teams, every school and college having a designated lead for mental health and a new four-week waiting time for services.

Richmond Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, Cllr Susan Chappell, said: “I understand the impact that mental health issues can have on children and their families and am pleased that as a council we have invested into emotional and mental health.”

The investment includes creating the role of a Mental Health Champion, Cllr. Meena Bond, and recruiting seven additional therapists across AfC.

Cllr Chappell said: “At the last council we announced that we would be renewing our commitment to a further £50,000, in addition to the £50,000 last year, for an emotional health practitioner in secondary schools to promote the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people in the borough.

“So far nine of our secondary schools have signed up to the scheme.

“A programme to improve social and emotional wellbeing among children will launch this month in six of our primary schools.

“Richmond Council is investing £40,000 over two years in the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) social and emotional learning programme, delivered by Barnardo’s.

“The Charity is matching the council’s funding as part of their strategy to increase access to the programme and improve the mental health of children and young people.”

She said the transformation grant is being used to support the Single Point of Access with two additional clinicians who can offer early support “as well as signpost and refer to appropriate services, including Relate and Off the Record who we commission”.

She added: “We await the Government's commitment to offering emotional health support to all schools, which will be of significant benefit to our young people and continue to look at how we can work with our schools to help them support their students.”