CYP Now - 'Unreliable data' undermining efforts on children's mental health

Poor-quality data is undermining the government's understanding of its progress on children's mental health and whether additional funding has been spent as intended, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

A report by the NAO highlighted "significant weaknesses and unreliability" in government data on numbers of children affected by mental health problems.

The government wants to increase the proportion of children and young people in need of support who are able to access NHS-funded mental health services from around 25 per cent to 35 per cent - estimated to be equivalent to treating an additional 70,000 children and young people a year - between 2015/16 and 2020/21.

However, the NAO said government cannot "reliably report progress" directly against the 70,000 target, as it does not have a reliable baseline measure.

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