The autumn party conferences gave us the opportunity to speak directly to politicians and decision-makers about improving access to therapy. 

We were there to highlight the value of counselling and psychotherapy and call on all parties to invest in these services across a range of settings to help meet growing demand for mental health support. 

Mental health featured prominently throughout the conference season, particularly the needs of children and young people. But parties differed in their approaches, from a focus on prevention and community-based support to concerns about welfare spending and economic participation. 

Here’s how the discussions unfolded and how we’re continuing to make the case for counselling and psychotherapy. 

Earlier support for young people 

At Labour conference, the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, pledged during his keynote speech that young people should face “no long waits anymore for mental health support”. The announcement formed part of a wider package aimed at helping young people who are disconnected from education and employment, including pathways from age 14, work placements and apprenticeships. 

It also builds on Labour’s existing commitments to expand community mental health provision and roll out Young Futures hubs. 

This commitment reflects our longstanding calls for accessible counselling for children and young people in education and community settings. 

To explore how this could work in practice, we hosted a roundtable at Labour conference, chaired by our Vice President, Baroness Berger. The discussion brought together counselling providers, representatives from youth and employment support, education and mental health organisations, and people with lived experience. 

Together, they explored how counselling could support young people experiencing difficulties with education or employment, and how different services could work together to make support more accessible. 

Putting prevention and whole-person mental health first 

Prevention was a prominent theme at the Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Plaid Cymru conferences, with discussions about how health and wellbeing are influenced by factors beyond clinical services. 

At the Liberal Democrats’ conference, health and social care spokesperson Helen Morgan called for a more patient-centred, preventative approach to primary care, with closer links between health, social care and community services. The party also emphasised choice and community-based support. 

The Green Party used its conference to promote a broader approach to health, with its leader, Zack Polanski, backing measures to prevent ill health, tackle health inequalities and put health at the centre of government policy. 

In Wales, Plaid Cymru also called for prevention to be a priority across government. First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth argued for closer working between departments, including health, education, housing and the economy. 

Our members already work across many of these settings, supporting people with a wide range of needs. We want their skills and experience to be recognised in decisions about how preventive and early mental health support is delivered. 

Mental health, welfare and employment 

At the Conservative and Reform UK conferences, mental health discussions focused more heavily on sickness benefits, welfare spending and economic participation. 

The Conservatives highlighted a more targeted approach to prevention. However, their Shadow Welfare Minister, Helen Whately, drew condemnation from disability groups after claiming that “millions” were claiming sickness benefits and receiving “free Motability cars for anxiety and ADHD”. 

At Reform UK’s conference, economic spokesperson Robert Jenrick argued that the benefits system was being “gamed by a lot of people”. He also set out proposals to raise the threshold for mental health-related state support and reduce Personal Independence Payments. 

The Conservatives also committed to revising the Mental Health Act, with a greater emphasis on detaining people considered to pose a risk to the public. 

These debates highlight the importance of recognising people’s individual circumstances and support needs. Counselling and psychotherapy can help people manage difficulties and support their wellbeing, relationships and participation in education, employment and community life. 

We’ll continue to make the case for psychological support to be part of a comprehensive approach to mental health, including prevention and early intervention. 

Making the case for counselling and psychotherapy 

Our Policy and Public Affairs Lead, Martin Bell, reflects on the importance of political engagement and the role counselling and psychotherapy can play in meeting the UK’s mental health needs:

“It is vital that BACP attends party conferences to influence policy formation and help ensure that counselling and psychotherapy are very much seen as part of the answer in terms of addressing unmet mental health need, across the political spectrum” 

“The current political debate, particularly for those parties in Government across the UK, is increasingly moving towards areas where the professions already have substantial capacity and expertise, particularly in terms of the prevention agenda”. 

“We have a highly mobile yet underutilised membership already providing accessible interventions across a wide range of settings – in education, employment support, communities and health. Our focus is to ensure a much greater recognition of counsellors and psychotherapists as a vital part of the workforce capable of delivering this important shift, and that this is better reflected in policy, commissioning and investment decisions”.