£415m 'sugar tax' cash available for school mental health support
Colette Flowerdew-Kincaid
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Around £415m of funding being handed to schools as a result of the so-called "sugar tax" could be spent improving support for young people with mental or physical health problems, Education Secretary Justine Greening has said.
The money - from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy - will be available to schools in the 2018/19 financial year, with more detail on how it will be distributed among schools due to be published later this year.
When the levy was first announced in March 2016, by then Chancellor George Osborne, emphasis was placed on how the money would be used to improve physical health, with the cash initially earmarked to double the primary school PE and sport premium, and to allow secondary schools to opt in to longer school hours so they could offer a wider range of activities for pupils.
But Greening has now said that mental health and physical conditions are now on the agenda as well.
In addition to using the initiative, which is being called the healthy pupils capital programme, to pay for facilities to support physical education, after-school activities and healthy eating, Greening said it will also be available to improve facilities for children with physical conditions or support young people struggling with mental health issues.
The government has also pledged to ensure that the amount schools receive will not fall below £415m regardless of the funds generated by the levy. Osborne had previously estimated that the levy could raise as much as £520m a year.
Greening said: "Schools can really help our children get a healthy start in life from exercise and sport, and also from knowing what a healthy diet means. It's not only good for them while they're in education, but the health and wellbeing benefits can last a lifetime.
"That's why we're investing £415m in facilities to support sports, after-school activities and promoting healthy eating, so we can secure the future health of our young people."
Amber Cowburn, campaigns manager at YoungMinds, has welcomed the announcement, but said she is keen for some of the money to be specifically earmarked for mental health provision.
"We wholeheartedly welcome the decision to invest the funds from the sugar tax into the health and wellbeing of young people in schools," she said.
"While physical activity is really important for the wellbeing of young people and can help to improve their mental health, we hope that some of the £415m will be ringfenced specifically for mental health provision.
"The money could help fund expert services and sessions in schools such as counselling and mindfulness, which would be a great start towards embedding a whole-school approach to mental health. This resource could really help schools to improve their wellbeing provision, which needs to be a greater priority for all schools."
The government announced last month that it will conduct a review of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The review will be followed by the publication of a green paper, which will detail plans to improve services in schools, higher education and for families.
The government is already committed to overhauling CAMHS as of 2015, when it set aside an extra £1.4bn for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for the period up to 2020.
