Committees

Children and Young People's Mental Health

Inquiry

The Education and Health and Social Care Committees have jointly launched an inquiry into the mental health of children and young people. This inquiry will examine mental health support and services provided in education and community settings, available to children and young people up to the age of 25. The Committees wish to understand how this provision is integrated with specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), acute and other statutory NHS services. 

The Committees will shortly launch a survey to gather anonymised personal experiences from individuals. People who wish to share their own experiences may therefore prefer to wait to do so via this route rather than through a written submission. Information about the survey will be posted here. 

The Committees hope to specifically explore the relationship between children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, the support that is available to them and how well they are able to thrive and succeed in education. This is important for all children and young people, but there are particular groups for whom it is critical, including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), care experienced children and young people and others who have suffered adverse childhood experiences. We will examine these issues in relation to education settings from the early years to further and higher education.  

In carrying out this work, the Committees will consider the Government’s commitment to expand Mental Health Support Teams to 100% of schools in England by 2029/30. They will also take account of forthcoming initiatives such as the establishment of a network of Young  Futures Hubs and Best Start Family Hubs, to ensure a comprehensive and up‑to‑date understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the system.  

The Committees will also consider how far there is sufficient alignment between recent government strategies and reviews, including but not limited to the 10 Year Health Plan, the Best Start for Life Strategy, SEND reform, the Review into mental health, ADHD and autism services and the National Youth Strategy, education and NHS workforce plans.

The call for evidence closed on 27 March 2026.

 

 

Safeguarding and support

If you have immediate concerns about yourself or someone else, you should contact 999.

In addition to your GP, the following organisations may be able to offer support or further information:  

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:59pm on 27 March 2026.

Upcoming events

View all events

No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Wednesday 14 October 2026
9:15am Private
9:30am Public
Children and Young People's Mental Health - Oral evidence 14 October 2026
9:30am
  • Professor Peter Fonagy
  • Professor Gillian Baird
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Wednesday 2 September 2026
9:15am Private
9:30am Public
Children and Young People's Mental Health - Oral evidence 2 September 2026
9:30am
  • Professor Subodh Dave (President at Royal College of Psychiatrists)
  • Rebecca Gray (Director, Mental Health Network at NHS Alliance)
  • Dr Sachin Sankar (Clinical Lead at East Midlands CAMHS Collaborative)
10:30am
  • Dr Samantha Jones (Officer for Mental Health at Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health)
  • Victoria Hornby (CEO at Mental Health Innovations)
  • Vanessa Longley (CEO at Beat Eating Disorders)
The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 1 September 2026
4:00pm Private
Private meeting 1 September 2026
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 16 June 2026
10:00am Public
Children and Young People's Mental Health - Oral evidence 16 June 2026
10:00am
  • Professor Jo Ellins (Professor of Health Services Research at the Health Services Management Centre at University of Birmingham)
  • Professor Nicholas Mays (Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Health Services Research and Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
  • Dr Jessica Mundy (Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
11:00am
  • Morgan Flack (Policy Officer at National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT))
  • Catherine Roche (CEO at Place2Be)
  • Claire Evans (Deputy CEO and Director of Education and Training at Anna Freud)
Room 8, Palace of Westminster

Contact us

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

  • Email: hsccom@parliament.uk
  • Address: Health and Social Care Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA