argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
Margaret Ann Throup (Conservative, Centre-right): I must make some progress Throughout the pandemic, NHS mental health services remained open, offering digital and remote access to maintain support and to accept new referrals. It is important that we bank the success of these digital innovations, as service providers are actively considering what has worked well in encouraging children and young people to engage with, and adhere to, their treatment plans Government must also play their part. That is why we have provided £79 million of additional funding this year to make a real difference to young people’s lives by ensuring that 22,500 more children and young people can access community mental health services, giving 2,000 more children and young people access to eating disorder services and, as I mentioned earlier, accelerating the delivery of mental health support teams in schools and colleges Opposition Members raised the important issue of services for those teenagers transitioning into adulthood, and we have provided £30 million to ensure that young adults, aged 18 to 25, including university students, are provided with tailored mental health support, helping to bridge the gap between children’s and adult services Although lockdown measures have been very tough for many, thanks to the success of our world-leading vaccination programme, we can now look to the future. We plan to launch a public discussion paper this spring to inform the development of a new, longer-term mental health strategy, which will include children and young people’s mental health. This will pave the way for a wide-ranging and ambitious conversation about potential solutions to improve mental health and wellbeing both within and beyond Government and the NHS We also plan to publish an update to the NHS long-term plan later this year, taking into account the impact of the pandemic. Today we have published the Government’s third annual "State of the nation: children and young people’s wellbeing" report. This year’s report focuses on trends in mental health and wellbeing recovery over the 2020-21 academic year, as well as children and young people’s views about wider society and the future We owe it to our future generations to seize the opportunity now for both the health and care and the education sectors to deliver on our commitments to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in this country. The Government cannot do this alone. There is a crucial role to be played by local authorities, the NHS, the private sector, schools and colleges, and the voluntary and community sector. Most importantly, we must continue to look to children and young people themselves and their parents, families and carers to understand what really matters to them.
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
Laura Trott (Conservative, Centre-right): It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson), who made a powerful speech I think we can all agree with the sentiment behind the motion. Indeed, it is similar to the 2017 Green Paper, similar to the NHS long-term plan, and, in fact, very similar to the report produced recently by the Health and Social Care Committee, of which I am a member. However, I listened carefully to what was said by the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan), and I heard a great deal about targets but very little about how Labour plans to achieve them We have put a huge amount of money into this space. Mental health funding has increased from £10 billion to £14 billion in a matter of years. The problem is, as we have all recognised today, that the numbers are rising exponentially, particularly in respect of eating disorders. As a number of Members have pointed out, we need to look at why this is happening. Why are we seeing a referral rate for eating disorders that has risen by, I think, 80%? It is extraordinary As well as pouring in even more money and trying to get more mental health support teams into schools, and more professionals, we need to focus on social media reform. My hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Tom Hunt) was right about that, as was the hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Dr Cameron). Today, at an event involving the Internet Watch Foundation, I heard four teenagers talk about the pressures that they felt online, and how difficult they found it to talk to people about what was happening and where to refer it. We must fix this, and I think that the Online Safety Bill will be the key to that I want to make some points about the care system. When our Committee was taking evidence about referrals, we heard that the Royal College of Psychiatrists was receiving ever more referrals from children in care. I think it is important for us to look into the training received by social workers, and to consider what more we can do to ensure that there is support for young people within the care system. The NHS has staffing problems; we know that that is true across all professions. Our support for those staff will be critical, because we all know about the pressure they have been under and how difficult they have found it. They have been into schools, and they are struggling to deal with the number of people coming forward The approach we have taken so far has increased the money available and the number of people doing this work, but we need to look at the causes, and I hope that that is what we will see Ministers doing.
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
Miriam Joy Cates (Conservative, Centre-right): We are facing a crisis in children’s mental health, as many hon. Members have outlined articulately in our debate. I welcome the Government’s mental health recovery action plan, but if we are serious about tackling this tragedy—and it really is a tragedy—we have to look at the root causes First, covid-19, or our response to it, has been a disaster for children’s mental health. Despite knowing very early on that covid posed almost no risk to children, we closed schools for months at a time and our children missed more face-to-face learning than in almost any country in Europe. However, covid measures have not been the only political threat to children’s wellbeing Over recent years, we have seen the increasing politicisation of children in schools. Parents across England frequently write to me about extreme gender ideology and other radical ideologies being taught in schools and reinforced by the internet. When gender non-conforming, autistic, same-sex attracted or troubled children are being told by trusted adults that their problems can be solved by changing sex, we have a serious safeguarding and wellbeing issue. The rise of the internet, particularly social media, presents a serious threat to our children’s mental health. There is a huge piece of work to do to keep children safe online, and tech companies must step up Family breakdown is a threat to children’s wellbeing. Children aged 11 to 16 who live with a lone parent are twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder as those who live with both parents. It is no surprise that our children are facing a crisis of mental health when we have one of the highest family breakdown rates in the western world. In recent decades, our social policies have made family life progressively more expensive and stressful, with more and more parents pushed into full-time work with less time and energy to devote to nurturing children. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom) for her amazing work in delivering the Start4Life offer that will strengthen families, but there is more to do. We need to start by recognising that intervention through schools and through the NHS, as important as it is, is no substitute for strong families in which children have the opportunity to develop virtues and character traits that will give them the best chance of good lifelong mental health. We have to pursue policies that strengthen families and equip parents and communities to foster in their children values and virtues such as patience, resilience, perseverance, self-control and humility —the kind of virtues that are taught not only in school, but in families and communities—and to build the foundation for fulfilling and happy adult lives. As the proverb says: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
Antony Higginbotham (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the general theme of the debate and recognise the importance of Children’s Mental Health Week. We have come an enormous way as a society on mental health. Although we have not erased the stigma of talking about mental health, we have come a long way. It was 10 years ago that the Health and Social Care Act 2012 enshrined duties on the Secretary of State for Health to improve physical and mental health, and it was a year later, in 2013, that the NHS constitution changed to bring parity to the two However, we have to recognise that the pressures on young people and children now are significant. Every generation has challenges, but this generation seems to be contending with more than most. First, there is the impact of social media. People can never switch off from Facebook, TikTok and Instagram—we know that—and platforms have to do much more to allow children and young people to take a step back. They have to do more to help children realise that unrealistic expectations are being put on them about body image, what relationships look like, and what careers and success look like Then we have to layer on top of that the impact of covid, and there has been an impact of covid on the mental health of children. It is not just the worry and anxiety that come from a pandemic, but the social isolation, the loss of learning and the loss of emotional development, whether children are four or five and just going to school for the first time, or 16, 17 or 18. These things are difficult to remedy, but that is what we must do Colleagues have spoken about the £500 million going into the mental health recovery action plan, and it is very welcome that £80 million of that is for young people. The long-term plan and the mental health leads going into schools are also very welcome, but I want to say a special thank you to Burnley FC in the Community, which does a really important job locally. Through its schools’ mental wellbeing project, working with the premier league, it puts mental health practitioners into local schools. They offer one-to-one sessions and group sessions. Between January 2019 and November 2021, more than 3,500 students were engaged. That helps to reduce anxiety, improve mood and build self-esteem. Lots of progress has been made and there are lots of schemes, funds and projects out there to make a difference, but because of social media and covid, now is the time to accelerate them.
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Opposition for securing this debate. It is important that we shine a light on the issue. I have always said that it takes a village to raise a child, but it actually takes an awful lot more people than that. I thank everyone in Truro and Falmouth who helps children in their lives, such as council officers, health and care professionals, teachers, early year educators, child minders, charities, volunteers and, of course, parents and families I will highlight a few of the challenges that we are facing in Cornwall. The end of the national lottery HeadStart grant in July is a key issue for us. It has funded trauma-informed training in schools to support professionals to work directly with children. At the moment, it is not set to be replaced Cornwall gets money from the Department of Health and Social Care for health provision and from the Department for Education for schools, but nothing directly to the local authority. It uses its core budget to support emotional health and wellbeing. It invests in clinical psychologists to help the most vulnerable children and school nurses to help with emotional health and wellbeing in order to prevent the escalation of need. However, I am told that there is no defined budget Schools in Cornwall are training and becoming trauma-informed schools, which supports children and their parents in their journey around mental health and is good for their health and wellbeing. That is being supported by Cornwall Council wellbeing for education, which is led by educational psychologists to enable staff to promote and support pupils’ wellbeing. Cornwall has successfully set up the Bloom, which offers to support all professionals in advising children and young people around the county Children need routine. They also need stability, stimulation and ambition. Most Members in this Chamber will be shocked to hear that there are children in Cornwall who have never seen the sea. Cornwall is an important place where we can exploit our blue and green environment, with surfing, fishing, swimming and forest schools. Where these schemes are set up, they are life-changing for children with mental health issues and difficult home lives. They not only teach children practical life skills, but build confidence and resilience. For me, that is the opposite of being sat at a screen, continuously exposed to social media and the media-driven anxious society in which we find ourselves today. As a society we must do better. For example, rather than yelling at each other from one side of the Chamber to the other, we should work together to do better for our children. We must set an example and do much better in this Chamber I would like to see anyone and everyone who comes into contact with a child to inspire them; to let them know that they can achieve. If we do that from the start, from the very early years, I think we will do better in the future.
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
Marco Longhi (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan) for securing this debate. The subject is close to my heart. While we know that the most valuable time in a human’s development is during childhood, and that by setting the right foundations early in life, we can prevent and reduce issues that may occur as a person grows through to adulthood, we also know that mental health, just like physical health, can change at any point in our lives. We need to be bolder about how we tackle the advent of social media and the massively corrosive impact it has had, not just on young people, but on so many people across the age ranges—it does not discriminate Naturally, it is most welcome that this Government are acting on the early years healthy development review by asking all local authorities to publish a "Start for Life" offer for parents, backed up with a £500 million package for families. Staff and professionals in our local authorities, education settings, charities and health and community organisations work tirelessly to help our children and families. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for what they do. Yes, the pandemic has made that challenge all the harder, but they have tried their best in these unprecedented times The pandemic has also made things harder for parents and carers of children, whether they are living in homes not suited to the number of people in them all day, every day during lockdown, or struggling to balance working from home with caring responsibilities and home schooling. Families need to know that they are supported, and it needs to be as easy as possible for them to know where to get support for their children Parents want what is best for their children, and finding support when needed can often be difficult. Family hubs will provide one central point of contact from conception until the day that the child legally becomes an adult, providing a more holistic approach that combines virtual access with face-to-face support. As amazing as technology is in connecting us, we still face a barrier of digital exclusion in some areas of our communities, and nothing truly replaces the benefits that come with face-to-face support. We need to build more robust and resilient young people, who will grow into robust and resilient adults for the generations to come, and that must start as early as possible.
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): I start by thanking all Members in all parts of the House for their valuable contributions to this important debate. It is, I hope, one of those debates in which all of us fundamentally want the same thing, and I think we have heard an awful lot of agreement across the House today. In Children’s Mental Health Week, it is important that we raise awareness of this important issue. Like the hon. Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan), I congratulate and thank Place2Be for all the work it does to raise awareness nationally. It is right that we have a spotlight on children and young people’s mental health, and I join hon. Members in thanking all those who work in mental health services up and down our country As many Members rightly pointed out, the pandemic has proved to be hugely challenging for children and young children, but they have shown incredible resilience in the most difficult circumstances. The pandemic has been difficult for many families. We all know this and many examples have been cited today, but we should not overlook the impact on children from not being able to attend school or go to after-school clubs, from not being able to see friends and family or play the sport they love, and from being stuck at home with their parents, as my children regularly said. There was disruption to their lives, and I thank teachers and support staff throughout the country for helping us to reopen schools and get children where we know it is best for them to be and they wanted to be. Whenever I visit a school, I ask about mental health and mental wellbeing. Immediately before this debate, I was in Trinity Church of England School in London, alongside Instagram and "Love Island" star Dr Alex George, to meet the mental health support team. They are doing incredible work, which I want to see rolled out further and faster; I will cover that in more detail later As Minister for Children and Families, I have a cross-Government role, but I hope the House understands that my focus today is on education. I will try to answer as many of the points raised by colleagues on both sides of the House as possible, but first—perhaps unusually for an Opposition day debate—I want to say how much I welcome the Opposition raising this subject and pushing the Government to go further and faster. As Children’s Minister, let me say that one child or young person waiting too long for mental health support is one child too many. The health, both mental and physical, of children and young people is something that I and this Government take incredibly seriously. Are we doing a lot already? Yes. Can we do more? Yes, and we must. Our children and young people deserve nothing less.
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
Marco Longhi (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the Minister agree that mental health is not something we can consider under one umbrella? In my Dudley constituency, Priory Park boxing club is doing fantastic work with children who are excluded from school. It is a great place not only for their physical wellbeing but for their mental health. The new hubs need to be integrated with other stakeholders in the community.
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I will come on to talk about family hubs and the role that they can rightly play I am no expert in this field, but I listen closely to those who are and I split mental health and mental wellbeing into three categories: resilience, identification and intervention, and specialist support. On the first, what can we do to help children and young people to be more resilient? We do that through our relationships, sex and health education, which is now compulsory between five and 16 years old, through our behaviour in schools guidance, through the sports and extracurricular activities that we have in schools throughout our country, and through things like forest schools, which have been mentioned and which are absolutely brilliant How can we identify emerging problems sooner and provide that all-important support? We can do that through measures such as mental health lead training and rolling out mental health support teams across the country. For access to specialist mental health support, we have the NHS long-term plan and additional investment of £2.3 billion a year by 2023-24, allowing at least an additional 345,000 children and young people to access NHS-funded mental health support, which of course comes under the Department of Health and Social Care.
Children’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-02-08
Topic: Health
Robert Largan (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the Minister agree that we must not forget the acute services as well? It is fantastic news that we are putting £4.8 million into building a new psychiatric intensive care unit at Tameside General Hospital, which will be a big boost for the fantastic staff at the Cobden unit at Stepping Hill Hospital too.
Battle of Arnhem: 75th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: Defense
Daniel Owen Jarvis (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful for the opportunity to pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of those who fought at Arnhem 75 years ago as part of Operation Market Garden, which began on 17 September 1944. Before I go any further, I should say that this debate was due to take place last month, prior to the commemorations, but the proroguing of Parliament meant that it did not go ahead. I would like to thank you, Mr Speaker, for agreeing to grant this debate and for the chance to commemorate this historic milestone From 17 to 26 September each year, we remember the anniversary of the battle of Arnhem—nine days of some of the fiercest fighting witnessed in the second world war, and the largest airborne operation ever conducted. Arnhem would indeed prove to be a bridge too far, but the story of those who fought there is one of immeasurable bravery and unspeakable tragedy. It would come to define our airborne forces, forging an enduring legacy Buoyed by victories in northern France and Belgium after the D-day landings, Operation Market Garden was a bold plan devised by Field Marshal Montgomery to end the war in 1944. Following its conclusion, he predicted that "in years to come it will be a great thing for a man to be able to say: ‘I fought at Arnhem’." Montgomery was indeed correct, but, of course, not for the reasons he originally envisaged As part of the operation, the US 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions were ordered to secure key bridges and towns in Son, Veghel, Grave and Nijmegen. To the north, the British 1st Airborne Division, supported by the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade and the Glider Pilot Regiment, were tasked with capturing the bridges at Arnhem and Oosterbeek.
COP26 Commitments: Government Procurement — House of Commons, 2022-01-19
Topic: Health
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises a very important point. The Department of Health and Social Care is indeed actively exploring the use of reusable face masks, reusable eye protection and reusable transparent masks. I will ensure that the relevant Minister from the Department writes to him with more details.