Funding for school counselling services

That this House notes with concern research from the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy which found that 80 per cent of young people say that their mental health has worsened during the covid-19 outbreak; further notes with concern that there could be significant future human and financial costs associated with the covid-19 outbreak unless there is Government intervention to stem that growing mental health crisis among young people; believes that provision of funding for counselling in all schools and colleges in England is the best way to address that problem; acknowledges that the average wait time for counselling in schools being 21 days, compared to CAMHS having an average wait time of 188 days, supports that viewpoint; and therefore calls on the Government to allocate resources in the Comprehensive Spending Review that are aimed at tackling the growing crisis of mental health among young people through a national commitment to counselling provision for all children in England’s secondary schools.