We’re thrilled that a member of the House of Lords has tabled amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that highlight the importance of access to school counselling.

Baroness Tyler of Enfield has requested the changes to the Bill following conversations with our policy team, and after a joint briefing by us, Barnardo’s and Place2Be.

Her amendment to the Bill says that children and young people must be able to “access emotional and mental health support within their school that is delivered by practitioners registered with, or accredited by, a body recognised by the Secretary of State”. This includes therapy bodies accredited by the PSA, such as BACP.

The amendment also requires that Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), which the Government is rolling out across England, must provide "access to counselling or equivalent therapeutic support in schools for pupils whose needs exceed low-intensity interventions but fall below Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) thresholds".

'Missing middle'

This section is in response to our calls for access to therapy for the ‘missing middle’ of children – which we estimate is 730,000 a year - who fall between the level of help offered by MHSTs and CAMHS and do not currently receive adequate support. 

Jenny Smith, our Parliamentary and Public Affairs Officer, said:

“This amendment is a great result at this stage of the process of the Bill becoming law. It’s a milestone moment that’s come about after more than a year of positive conversations and campaigning.

Vital early intervention

“Baroness Tyler’s additional wording to the Bill highlights crucial calls about school counselling to help ensure all children and young people in need have access to this vital and effective early intervention.

“It’s fantastic to see the recognition of the need to address the ‘missing middle’ of children and the need for therapists to be registered with a PSA-accredited body, as this is something we’ve spoken to Baroness Tyler about.

“We’ll continue to follow the Bill as it progresses through Parliament and keep working hard to ensure this results in increased access to therapy for children and young people.

Collaborative campaigning

“We’d like to thank Baroness Tylor for tabling such a vital and clear amendment to the Bill, and also Barnardo’s and Place2Be for their hard work as part of this collaborative campaigning too.”

Baroness Tyler has met and spoken to members of our policy team multiple times over the past few years, including at the Liberal Democrat Party conference in 2024.

We’ve also worked with Barnardo’s and Place2Be to share information, case studies and a briefing with Baroness Tyler to highlight the need for greater access to school counselling delivered by qualified, registered professionals.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aims to change the law to better protect children and raise standards in education and is currently going through Parliament. It was introduced by the Labour Party after initially being a manifesto commitment.

The Bill will now go through several further stages, which may result in more amendments, before it receives royal ascent and becomes law.

We’ll continue to monitor the Bill’s progress and what happens once it is passed, as part of our policy work to ensure greater access to and investment in school counselling.