Sutton has been announced as one of 25 mental health “trailblazers” which will introduce new mental health services to a population of almost 500,000 children and young people across England.

The borough's clinical commissioning group (CCG) will bring about the services together with Merton and Wandsworth under the South West London Health and Care Partnership.

Bromley, Camden, Haringey, Hounslow, Tower Hamlets and West London CCGs are also part of the list for the capital.

The new pilot areas will see both schools and the NHS collaborate together in designing proposals from the Government’s children and young people’s mental health green paper.

It comes as data shows one in eight children and young people aged between five and 19 had a mental disorder last year, according to NHS Digital statistics.

A joint project between the Departments of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Education (DfE), each school will have a designated mental health lead, training new mental health support teams and try out a new four-hour waiting time target.

The DHSC has picked seven institutions to train up to 8,000 new mental health practitioners starting in January next year, while each of the 59 mental health support teams will assist roughly 8,000 young people across 20 schools and colleges.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Photo: Jonathan Brady / PA

Mr Hancock said: “Children and young people with mental illness should receive the same level of support as those with physical illness.

“Made possible by the extra £20.5 billion we are investing in the NHS, today's announcement will see the health and education systems come together so our children can access the help they need at school and takes us a step closer to achieving our goal of parity between mental and physical health.”

Figures show the Government’s impact assessment estimates the schemes will cost approximately £110 million up to 2020/21.

That total will rise to £1.59 billion by 2027/28 once rolled out across the country.

The new services will be rolled out to between a third and a fifth of the country by at least 2023/24 amid promises of improvements to services in the NHS’ long-term plans.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds. Photo: Victoria Jones / PA

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: “Children today experience pressures that we as adults often find hard to appreciate, or possibly even understand.

“We are much more aware of mental health in the education sector now than in decades gone by and rightly so, and teachers are often able to recognise the early warning signs of changes in their pupils' behaviour or mood, but they are not mental health professionals.

“We are much more aware of mental health in the education sector now than in decades gone by and rightly so, and teachers are often able to recognise the early warning signs of changes in their pupils' behaviour or mood, but they are not mental health professionals.”