THE Local Government Association (LGA) is calling for every secondary school in the country to be given funding to offer independent mental health counselling to all pupils.

It comes amid growing concerns that children and young people are being forced to wait up to 18 months for vital support.

The Government has pledged a total of £1.7 billion to promoting, protecting and improving children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

But the LGA, which represents 370 councils in England and Wales, is calling for five per cent of this funding - £90 million – to be used to make it mandatory for every pupil in secondary and alternative education provision, to have access to on-site school counselling services.

The call is part of the LGA’s Bright Futures campaign for children and young people’s mental health and comes as local government leaders warn that:

- At least one in ten children have a diagnosed mental health condition and almost 19,000 children were admitted to hospital after harming themselves in 2015 – a 14 per cent increase over three years.

- The average waiting time for children and young people to access mental health services range from 14 to 200 days.

- Between 70 and 75 per cent of young people experiencing a mental health problem not able to access any treatment, due to reasons such as lack of early intervention services and stigmas around asking for help.

The LGA says that government funding of on-site school counselling services in every school would help ensure children can access the support as early as they need without having to go on a waiting list.

Councillor Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “No child or young adult should have to wait 18 months for vital support and guidance. Many young people might not have needed formal social care support if they had received the early help they needed.

“Providing just a small proportion of the funding it is spending on mental health support nationally to ensure every school provides on-site counselling, is one way the Government can ensure every child and young person enjoys the bright future they deserve.

“Mental health problems are very common and not something children should feel ashamed about. Good emotional health and wellbeing is also about learning to be resilient to life’s setbacks and negative emotions.

“They may be facing personal problems outside of school that they feel that they are unable to talk to somebody about or in the current climate, it could be that they are seeking reassurance to cope with modern stresses such as social media pressures, sexual exploitation and negative body image.”

Bradford Council says it welcomes more funding to support the mental health of young people and says support should be offered in the most appropriate places. 

Councillor Val Slater, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: "Here in Bradford members of our Joint Children and Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee have met with young people who are dealing with mental health issues to listen to their views and seek their ideas.

"This found they wanted support both in schools but also outside. Having access to counselling services in school is important but we have also found that for some young people school is not always the place where they felt most comfortable discussing their mental health."

Coun Slater added: “We found young people often wanted to have someone to talk to close to where they lived who would be more like a ‘buddy’ than a professional.

“In response, the three Bradford Clinical Commissioning Groups have created a new partnership called Youth In Mind.

"The partnership works closely with the Children and Adolescence Mental Health Service to identify young people who will benefit from support within their community and with the support of their peers. At the centre of this support are Youth Workers from Bradford Council who are called Buddies.

“Youth Workers meet with young people initially on a one-to-one basis. The support provided to young people is often about building confidence, reducing isolation and connecting them to other young people within their community.

“The support was commissioned in April 2017 and so far more than 300 young people have accessed it.

“The Youth In Mind Partnership is considering how support can be extended to more schools to ensure young people are able to access support earlier.”