§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the link between mental health problems in children and adolescents and suicide/self-harm when they are adults. [47440]
§ Jacqui SmithMental disorder in childhood is a risk factor for mental disorder in adulthood, which itself is a risk factor for suicide and self-harm. The continuities between childhood and adulthood vary according to the nature and severity of the disorder.
Under the leadership of Professor Louis Appleby, National Director for Mental Health, we are developing a coherent national suicide prevention strategy. The strategy will strike a balance between a population approach and a focus on specific high risk/high benefit populations. We recognise that young people are a key "at risk" group and one of the key strategy objectives will be to promote the mental health of children and young people. We plan to publish a draft strategy for wide public consultation later this spring.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when(a)he and (b)his Ministers last met Ministers in DIES to discuss co-ordination of children's mental health services with education services. [47441]
§ Jacqui SmithMinisters in the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills have many regular meetings and, although Ministers have not met specifically to discuss this topic, child mental health services are raised at many of these meetings. In addition, officials at both Departments' meet frequently to discuss multi-agency mental health services for children.
The Department for Education and Skills will be an important contributor to the development of the mental health module of the Children's National Service 434W Framework. This is a major development and will ensure that co-ordination of child and adolescent mental health services is safeguarded when considering the quality of services.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what mental health promotion work is taking place with children and adolescents. [47438]
§ Jacqui SmithThe promotion of children's mental health and the prevention of mental health problems in childhood are central to many Government programmes.
The Mental Health National Service Framework has set mental health promotion as its first standard. The project group taking this work forward has recently published a "Mental Health Promotion Update" focusing on mental health promotion in schools and for children and young people. Programmes such as sure start are designed to ensure that children get the best possible start in life so that they can thrive arid make effective use of opportunities when they start school.
The Department for Education and Skills issued guidance last year specifically addressing mental health promotion in schools, to which this Department contributed. This guidance is designed to increase awareness about children's mental health among teachers and to provide examples of good practice.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the cost of delivering a world class mental health service for children and adolescents. [47432]
§ Jacqui SmithThe National Service Framework for Children, which will include child and adolescent mental health services and the psychological wellbeing of children and young people, will set out service standards to improve the quality of care provided. The framework will take account of studies on the cost of delivering effective services.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the link between mental health problems in children and adolescents and crime. [47439]
§ Jacqui SmithThe results of a major literature review on antisocial behaviour by young people, commissioned by the Department, was published in 1998 (Rutter, Giller, Hagel—"Antisocial Behaviour by Young People", Cambridge University Press). This looked at international research evidence on antisocial behaviour and covered all the factors relevant to the development of such behaviour in young people, including mental health problems and serious mental disorder. The review clearly illustrated the complex nature of causal relationships in this field and the difficulty of establishing clear links between psychosocial (and other) risk factors and specific behaviours, including criminality.
In addition a report "Psychiatric Morbidity among Young Offenders in England and Wales" was published by the Office for National Statistics in 2000, representing a further analysis of wider survey data on psychiatric morbidity among prisoners originally collected in 1997 on behalf of the Department. The report included a finding that more than nine in 10 of imprisoned young offenders in the survey showed evidence of mental disorder 435W (assessed in the survey as: personality disorder; psychosis; neurotic disorder; drug dependence; and hazardous drinking).
Copies of these documents are available in the Library.