Call to Prime Minister for children to be at the heart of the Covid-19 recovery
News from BACP

30 June 2020

We’re among more than 100 organisations to sign the statement to Boris Johnson

We’ve joined 152 organisations to call on the Prime Minister to put children at the heart of the Covid-19 recovery.

A statement, organised by the National Children’s Bureau, urges the Government to put together an ‘unprecedented response’ to address how children have been affected by the global pandemic.

It calls for an “unprecedented investment in mental health”, as well as support for early years settings and schools, dedicated financial support for children and funding for early help services and public health.

The statement, signed by charities such as NSPCC, Barnardo’s and Action for Children, has been published ahead of today’s speech by the Prime Minister, and in advance of the Chancellor’s anticipated budget next week.

Our Children, Young People and Families Lead Jo Holmes said: “Children’s lives have been on hold for the past few months.

“They’re having to deal with school closures, uncertainty, isolation, fear, anxiety and disruption to their routines, as well grief and worried about their family finances and parents’ employment. This is having a huge impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

“This is a critical time for the government to respond to the increasing mental health needs of young people.

“Children must be at the heart of the nation’s recovery plan.”

Our own campaigning work regarding coronavirus and children is calling on the Government to allocate extra funding to counselling in schools and colleges ahead of expected increase in demand for such services.

We want to see a national commitment to counselling provision for all children in England’s secondary schools, bringing us into line with the other nations of the UK.

We’ve written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson about this last month – and are continuing to promote the importance of paid school counsellors.

We’re also putting together a survey of our members who offer school counselling services to help inform our future work in this area.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been widespread, affecting the lives of every baby, child and young person in the country. This generation of children face unprecedented threats to their childhoods and life chances. They deserve an unprecedented response.

We call on the Prime Minister to announce that children will join health and the economy as the three pillars of the government’s coronavirus response.

Even before the onset of the crisis, child poverty was rising, school budgets were under pressure, waiting lists for mental health services were unacceptably long, and services supporting families and protecting children from abuse and neglect were at breaking point, stretched by rising need and reduced government funding.

Now, they are also a generation over which Covid-19 threatens to cast its shadow for years to come. Our children are in an eerie world, full of uncertainty. They do not know when they can go back to school. They worry about when they can see friends and family. They are anxious about family finances.

We know this uncertainty and worry will lead to anxiety and mental health problems. We know closed schools will damage the educational attainment and life chances of children – the poorest, the most. We know Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities will be hit the hardest. We know there is no certainty about when the crisis will end and when we can see loved ones again. We know there is more financial hardship to come.

We are calling on the Government to embrace a new vision of childhood to support children, young people and their families to recover from the impact of Covid-19. The voices of children, young people and families must be at the heart of the recovery and rebuild process, and there must be renewed investment in the services and workforce that they rely on.

The Budget should be the start of a rescue, recovery and rebuild plan designed to prioritise, support and enable our children to thrive. We need an ambitious, radical plan that will be transformational for the generation of children growing up in today’s modern Britain.

That will mean action and investment across Whitehall and in town halls, including: funding for early help services and public health; supporting innovation and integrated working, particularly with charities; dedicated financial support for children; support for early years settings and schools so attainment gains are protected; and unprecedented investment in children’s mental health. This must be accompanied by a commitment to protect children facing additional challenges, like those with disabilities, asylum seekers, abuse victims and those from minority communities.

We will continue to play our part. In the weeks ahead, many of us will share with ministers and officials the key elements needed for such a recovery plan.

The government, understandably, has so far focused on the immediate health and economic consequences.

It’s now time for the nation to put a strong, protective arm around its children, to stop childhoods being disrupted and life chances being derailed.

Children, young people and families

Promoting the importance of early intervention and access to timely psychological therapies for children, young people and families is a priority for BACP.

Tackling the mental health consequences of coronavirus

Back our COVID-19 campaign to reaffirm the critical role that counselling and psychotherapy needs to play in supporting the nation through the coronavirus crisis and in helping to repair it afterwards.

9 December 2021

Critical time to respond to rising mental health needs of children and young people

Read our letter to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson

1 June 2020