This year’s Young Labour Priority Campaign is on young people’s mental health services.

Funding cuts and Tory austerity are damaging young people’s access to mental health services.

Since 2010, young people’s mental health services have been cut by £50m. Data obtained between 2005-2010, prior to cuts, shows that service contact rates have dropped by over 10%.

Additionally, most mental health conditions are established by the age of 24, yet despite this, research from the Children’s Society shows that 70% of young people haven’t received appropriate intervention.

Young people with mental health problems are more likely to experience poor mental health, lower income, unemployment, inability to maintain a stable relationship, and greater contact with the criminal justice system later on in adulthood.

Young Labour councillors and candidates across the country are pledging to protect these vital services.

Jack Reason, Labour’s candidate for Thorpe Ward in the 2018 local elections, says: “I want to see improvements to mental health being given a high priority and if elected, I will never endorse any changes that would reduce the quality of mental health services in Southend ”

Sources:

http://www.childpsychotherapy.org.uk/news/professionals-react-news-childrens-mental-health-services-cut-£50m

http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cuts-to-mental-health-services-putting-young-people-at-risk-say-experts

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-children-and-young-people