Minds Matter

The UK government has recently announced it is setting up an education committee to examine children’s mental health and wellbeing, Abode2 gets more detail

The cross-party Committee will use the session to question experts on how the pandemic has impacted children’s mental health and wellbeing following disruption to their education and social lives. The Committee will also consider what policy changes could support young people’s mental health.

The Committee is likely to ask questions around the societal costs or benefits of policies that support children’s wellbeing and resilience. There may also be questions about the outcomes of the Government’s 2018 Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health.

Among the witnesses will be Lord Gus O’Donnell, a former Cabinet Secretary under three prime ministers, and who chaired the Legatum Institute’s Commission on Wellbeing and Policy which reported in March 2014.

MPs will also question Mouhssin Ismail, Principal of Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre, where the philosophy is that "for students to succeed and flourish... their mental and physical well-being needs to be looked after and catered for just as much as their academic interests”.

They will be joined by Catherine Roche, the Chief Executive of children’s mental health charity Place2Be, and Lord Richard Layard, an economist who was also a Commissioner for the Legatum Institute’s Commission on Wellbeing and Policy.