I recently spoke in the House of Commons chamber to ask a question of the Minister of State for Higher Education, Robert Halfon MP, about Government safeguards to bolster mental health support and try to prevent student suicides for those at university.
You can watch my question to the minister, as well as his response, via the following link: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/9c26c8e4-8cca-465a-b77b-73fbcd90348e?in=15:35:32
As you can hear in my question, one of my staff has been campaigning for several years on mental health policy following the tragic suicide of his friend at university.
The policy that has been of particular focus is that of information-sharing in a mental health crisis. A report was published by Universities UK, an advocacy group for universities, in October 2022 which both endorses and provides a best practice guidance for information-sharing.
To learn more about this policy, as well as the report by Universities UK, please see the following BBC News article published last year: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-63075852
The Government recognises the need for action to increase treatment and awareness of mental health, particularly amongst young people. The Covid-19 pandemic brought renewed attention towards the topic of mental health, and this has galvanised action.
One of the main motivations behind the Government’s Online Safety Bill is to prevent children from accessing ‘pro-suicide’ content on the internet, which causes untold damage to the mental health of young people, and to protect the mental health of young people.
Combatting instances of suicide and the distribution of pro-suicide content remains a top priority for this Government’s mental health and online strategies. The Bill targets the distribution of pro-suicide material, as well as other harmful contents such as revenge pornography, fraud and the sale of illegal drugs and weapons.
The Government has also recently boosted spending on mental health by £150 million. This demonstrates the Government’s commitment towards increasing investment towards mental health. A portion of this spending will go towards early years mental health, and towards the early years support teams which support vulnerable young people.
The Prime Minister had the following to comment on the spending increase:
“People in mental health crisis deserve compassionate care in a safe and appropriate setting. Too often, they end up in A&E when they should be receiving specialist treatment elsewhere.
This important funding will make sure they get the help they need, while easing pressures on emergency departments and freeing up staff time – which is a huge priority for the government this winter.”
(Photo: Michael Ellis MP speaking at Education Oral Questions in the House of Commons)