Education Committee to question Government’s Youth Mental Health Ambassador Dr Alex George

Purpose of the session

Also giving evidence will be Dr Bernadka Dubicka from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the chief executives of the charities Young Minds and Place2Be. In addition to the impact of the pandemic, the session will also explore the situation pre-Covid and the Government’s wider strategy of improving the mental health of young people and the availability of support.

Background

Several studies have highlighted the detrimental effect of the pandemic and school closures on wellbeing. A review by academics warned of the ‘considerable impacts’ in terms of emotional, behavioural and restlessness/inattention problems.

The Government has made a series of announcements during the pandemic on funding to support young people’s mental health, including £79 million earlier this month to boost the number of support teams in schools and colleges.

In 2018, the previous Committee published a report along with the Health Committee on the Government’s Green Paper on Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health. The report argued that the Government’s strategy lacked ambition and would provide no help to the majority of those children who desperately need it.

Witnesses

Tuesday 16th March

At 10am

• Dr Bernadka Dubicka, Consultant Psychiatrist, and Chair of the Child & Adolescent Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists  
• Dr Alex George, A&E doctor, and the Government’s Youth Mental Health Ambassador 
• Emma Thomas, Chief Executive of Young Minds 
• Catherine Roche, Chief Executive of Place2Be 

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

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